Empress
by fujin of shadows
Summary: Ruby Rose was given a Crown the day her mother died. A Throne was made for her by the society that she deems deserving of her protection. A blade for her protection was forged soon after. Remnant would be ruled by an Empress, by its own choice, even if the Monarch is clueless of her rule. Ruby Rose X Adam Taurus. Wilting Rose.
1. Chapter 1

_**Empress**_

 _ **Prologue Part 1**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY**_

 **AN: An experimental fic that has been dancing in my head for a while now. Only, a personal thing for me to prove to myself that I can still write even with my job constantly occupying my time. Probably the worst Prolouge I have ever written.  
**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

In a certain time, in a certain world.

Ruby Rose grew in a household with a loving father, with a loving sister, and a loving uncle.

In that world, she grew up as a Huntress with skills and abilities that inspired those after her generation.

In that world, she had many celebrated names.

In that world, she was known by a select few as the Summer Maiden, the woman that held the seasons and the world together when it was in a brink of war.

In that world, she was known as a woman of morals and pureness, as well as idealism that created a new image for heroes.

In this world, all is the same.

All but one and that changes everything.

A rose will magnificently grow in a loving environment.

But the most beautiful and elegant of roses grows in the most hostile of environments.

 _ **(Empress)**_

A six-year old Ruby Rose could still remember what her family used to be.

Her family was the picture of a perfect family.

A loving and caring mother.

A doting father.

An awesome and cool uncle.

An amazing and remarkable elder sister.

That was her family and she loves them.

But everything change when one aspect was remove from the equation.

Her family was a family of Hunters, humanities vanguard against the Creatures of Grimm.

Hunters are celebrated heroes in the World of Remnant.

Unfortunately though, being a Hunter means that you have a short life expectancy.

Case and point, Summer Rose, the matriarch of the Rose-Xiao Long family, one of Beacon Academy's most successful graduates and one of the most powerful Huntresses in her generation perish after confronting a particularly vicious Grimm.

Grimm, though lacking in Aura and incapable of using Dust, can be very powerful, especially one with two centuries under its belt.

Summer Rose was a powerful Huntress, but even she, who is so close to her prime, cannot survive a confrontation against a Primordial Grimm.

When Summer Rose died, the Rose-Xiao Long household descendent into despair.

Summer Rose, like all wives in a household, was the light of the family.

Without her, the Rose-Xiao Long household descendent into what can be describe as darkness.

And the one who felt the brunt of this was Ruby Rose, the blood child of Summer Rose.

Ruby Rose, the apple of the eyes of most in the Rose-Xiao Long household, suddenly became the pariah.

Taiyang suddenly could not stand the sight of her. For the blonde adult, looking at someone who looked so much like his second wife was like a blade through the heart. He became prone of yelling at Ruby and physically pushing her away just to avoid remembering the wife that stayed with him in parenthood.

Qrow was not physical with the young child, but Ruby knew that the way her uncle looked at her changed. She might be young, but Ruby knew that she was causing her uncle pain. After all, even she can noticed the physical pain her uncle was suffering every time he looks at her.

And then her elder sister, Yang. The best sister in the world in the eyes of the young Rose, the way Yang change is what hurt Ruby the most. Before, when her mother was alive, she and Yang were as close as sisters could be. They would play together, sleep together, laughed together in such a way that it would make even the coldest of people to coo at them.

Right now, it was heartbreaking at the fact that her sister could barely looked at her without flinching and every time she tries to even approach her, her big sister would shy away from her, and that hurt more than the abuse that she was suffering at the hand of her father.

Ruby did not know why this was happening to her.

But one thing is for certain.

The house that she was living in has lost its light.

The house that she was born in was no longer her home.

 _ **(Empress)**_

Everything came full circle one day.

Ruby was noticing her sister leaving their house more and more as the day goes by.

Ruby does not blame her. Considering how living in the house was getting more depressing by the day, add to how their father was acting, Ruby can understand Yang's desire to spend as little as possible in their house and in the presence of their father.

Normally, Ruby would have left her sister to her own device.

Yang, an eight-year-old girl, was a big girl, and she was strong, capable of taking care of herself.

After all, she was the one who was the less broken among everyone in their family when Summer died.

Normally, Ruby would go to her room, retreat to her fairy tale books until sleep claims her.

For some reason, tonight, she did not.

Instead, for some odd reason, she followed her sister to wherever place she was going to.

Ruby followed Yang, as quietly as possible and as far as possible without her losing sight of her sister.

Ruby was also very careful to hide herself from Yang's sight.

Things are getting worse between them, with Yang now refusing to look at her, not even a single glance from her sister on her way for an entire week.

Now that hurt more than anything else she had suffered since the death of her mother.

Ruby followed her sister as quietly and as stealthy as humanly possible.

Twenty steps away from her sister, Ruby followed her sister to a destination that she knows not, making sure that Yang stayed within her sight.

And it was torture. Yang walked for hours on end, through a dark forest, in a path covered with branches that can easily tear through flesh, in a path that would be appropriate in any R-rated horror film.

Ruby was six year old, with all of the stamina and endurance of one.

She was scared, tired, and bleeding lightly whenever those branches scrape her bare skin.

Regardless, she continued to follow her sister dutifully.

Ruby did not know, but a part of her knew that her elder sister needed her tonight.

And in a way, she was right.

Ruby did not know how long they were walking.

The only thing that registered in her exhausted mind was the fact that her sister stopped in front of a torn down house. Yang's legs were shaking from exhaustion due to hours of walking. Ruby was much worse, with her being at the verge of a collapsed.

But Ruby remained awake and took in her surroundings.

They were in a middle of nowhere.

The broken moon above the sky shined ominously upon both of them.

A thick darkness enshrouds them, caging them in way that made Ruby shudder.

Finally, Ruby could see leering crimson eyes, all directed at her elder sister.

And before she could comprehend anything else, a roar reverberated throughout the immediate area followed by three wolf-like creatures all lunging towards her elder sister, fangs bared and claws poise to rip her sister to shreds.

Ruby's world stopped the moment she saw those black monsters jumping out of the house towards her sister.

Ruby, with all of her naivety and childishness knows what those creatures are.

The creatures of Grimm, humanities one and only predator. The creatures that constantly threatens humanity's existence and wellbeing.

The foul creatures that took her mother from her.

The creatures that were about to take her sister from her.

Ruby was six-years of age. She's weak and fragile, not to mention exhausted from all the endless walking that she did.

But Ruby was human, with a soul pure as the whitest snow.

Ruby was also determine not to lose anyone else she cares for to those vile creatures.

So, in a bid to save someone she loves, Ruby did the one thing that children her age should have no business in doing.

She unlocked her aura.

She forced her aura out.

She projected her soul outwards for the first time.

And then, she ran, and the rose petals that she left behind were that of the purest reds that anyone could hope to imagine.

 _ **(Empress)**_

Yang knew that she was dead.

A grim thought that no eight year old should have had but considering her situation, it was hard not to think along those lines.

She was exhausted from all the walking that she did to the point that she did not have any more energy to cry for help, much more run from the monster that were about to devour her.

She tried to close her eyes, to block the dawning horror that was about to befell upon her, but she lacked the energy to do even that.

When one of the creatures claws were about to remove her head, her vision were suddenly filled with red.

Not the burning red eyes of the Grimm that were going to devour her.

But with red, rose petals that made her feel all warm inside.

What followed was her vision becoming extremely blur before the sight of her sister on top of her filled her entire sight.

"Ruby," Yang muttered softly, loud enough for Ruby to hear. Yang was surprised to see her sister with her, and was also quite startled that they were suddenly inside the abandon house, away from the Grimm.

Tears of joy fell down Ruby's eyes at the sound of her name from her sister's lips.

It has been a while since Ruby heard her name from her sister.

But her joy did not last long.

A roar reverberated from outside the house.

Ruby and Yang knew that the Grimm would follow them inside.

They both knew that they were no match for the Grimm and they would die if they stayed idle.

But only Ruby, young and innocent Ruby, knew, knew in an instinctual level that she could not understand, that she would be a much more appealing meal for the Grimm than her sister would be.

So acting in instinct, Ruby kissed her sister on the cheek, as a final goodbye, before standing to her feet.

With a deep breath, she took whatever power that was still lingering in the surface, and run, leaving a flurry of rose petals on her wake.

Ruby wasn't able to hear her sister scream her name.

All Ruby ever registered was the fact that three gigantic wolves were running after her.

Away from her sister, like she intended to.

 _ **(Empress)**_

Ruby didn't know how long she ran.

She did not even know how fast she ran.

She did not know how far she ran.

The only thing that mattered to her was leading those monsters away from her sister.

By the sound of the growls behind her, she had succeeded.

She did not lose her sister.

But there was a price.

Everything worth doing and having always comes with a price.

Like a car running in fumes, Ruby collapsed and fell face first on the unforgiving ground.

She spat the dirt that was able to get into her mouth before turning around.

Her vision was filled with the Grimms that were chasing her.

They were leering at her as they slowly stalked towards her.

Instead of showing fear, like what a normal six year old would, Ruby smiled at them, as if she was greeting an old friend.

Ruby knows she was going to die, even though she was too young to comprehend the ramification of what her death would bring or the pain that she was going to suffer before her death.

Ruby was tired; her body was slowly shutting down. A child as young as her should never unlock her aura at her age, much less using it.

But, Ruby didn't care.

She did what she needed to do.

She saved her beloved sister.

For a moment, a single moment, she became a hero, a hero for her sister.

For a six year old, that was a good life lived.

When one of the wolves raised it claws, at the process of removing her head clean off her shoulders, Ruby looked at her killer's eyes, a smile on her lips as if ready to embrace death.

With a growl, the beast's claws descendent downwards.

The wind was cut and blood showered to the ground.

Fortunately, the blood that stained the ground wasn't red.

It was black.

It was well known that the color of a Grimm's blood was black.

Ruby's eyes widen at the sight of the monster's skull being pierce through by what appears to be a pitch-black spear.

The sound of a shotgun blast echoed loudly in the forest soon followed by a purplish-black flash.

One of the Grimms fell to the ground; its body was reduced to smithereens due to the shotgun blast.

Ruby felt a gust of wind blew past her before a shower of black rose petals fell upon her.

A black hooded figure stood in front of her.

One of the figures hand grabbed hold of the spear that had killed the Grimm that had raised its claws on Ruby.

On his other hand, he was holding on what appeared to be a heavily modified, gray colored anti-riot shotgun.

The figure shifted its head and looked at Ruby.

Ruby met the person's gazed and her eyes almost popped out of her skull.

The face that the figure wore was near identical to that of her mother's.

The only difference was that the figures eyes were red not silver.

Also, the figure's face was more boyish than feminine.

A roar took Ruby's attention away from the figure and towards the last remaining Grimm.

It lunged at the figure and a scream of warning was on the tip of Ruby's lips.

Her worry was misplaced.

The figure removed the spear lodge at the Grimm's skull with practiced ease before spinning both the spear and shotgun between his fingers.

There was a sound of gears shifting before the shotgun turned into another spear.

With a simple flicker of a wrist and light twist of the body, a flurry of spears trust and swipes rained down upon the Grimm, effectively dissecting the Grimm into a hundred meaty pieces.

Spinning the two spears between his fingers once again, their sizes were reduces as they turned into shotguns.

Sheathing his weapons onto his back, the figure knelt down in front of Ruby before pulling his hood off his head.

The face of her deceased mother filled Ruby's periapical vision before the young girl finally collapsed, due to aura and physical exhaustion.

The last thing Ruby heard as darkness claimed her was a masculine tone sighing.

"Stupid elder sister."

* * *

 _ **PS. this is going to be an AdamXRuby Fic**_


	2. Chapter 2

**_Empress_**

 ** _Prologue Finale_**

 ** _Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY_**

* * *

Ruby dreamt of a world of roses, and it was the most breathtaking dream that she could remember.

It was the only dream that she could remember.

Roses as far as she could see, glistening and glimmering like gems.

The world of red, of glorious, vibrant, beautiful red.

The aroma of roses was prevalent in the air and it was intoxicating the young child.

And in the middle of the scarlet, beautiful world was a woman in red.

A woman that Ruby had never met, but for some reason, Ruby felt that she had known the woman for her entire life.

The woman stood in the middle of the rose garden, wearing the most beautiful dress that Ruby has ever seen.

Her face and head was covered with a hood as red as blood.

Ruby watched, spellbound, as the woman shifted her head towards her.

Although she could not see the eyes of the woman, Ruby could feel that their gazed, their eyes met.

The woman slowly, meticulously, elegantly raised her arms before pulling a scythe out of thin air.

The scythe had a very exquisite and ornate design, worthy of to be the magnum opus of any weapon smith or blacksmith.

Ruby ignored the design of the scythe, unique and exotic it may be, but instead she focused her gazed on the blade.

The blade was drench with blood, so much blood that it was dripping on the rose covered ground.

Ruby knew that she should have been scared at the sight of the blood.

Ruby knew that she should have been green with disgust at the sight of blood, blood that belonged to a human being.

Ruby knew that she should have been nauseated at the sight of that much blood.

But she wasn't.

Instead, she was mesmerized.

She was mesmerized by the sight of the blood on the blade of the scythe.

Because instead of seeing murder, Ruby saw life.

Ruby saw a life worth living.

 _ **(Empress)**_

Slowly, Ruby opened her eyes and was met with a blazing flame beside her.

The flame warmed her body to the point of comfort but for some reason, Ruby felt unease.

If she remembered correctly, she was being chased by Grimm and was about to killed by those creatures, and then someone save her.

It was a man that she had never seen before.

A man that wore her mother's face.

Ruby's eyes widen in remembrance before bolting up.

And she yelled in pain as she once again collapsed to the ground.

She did not noticed how exhausted she is.

"You should really get back to sleep." A voice, cold and near emotionless yet somewhat aristocratic, reached Ruby's ears. "Normal six year old girls normally do not activate their aura, much less used their Semblance the moment they awake their aura. They don't have the body to utilize such power after all."

It took all the energy Ruby still had in her body to shift her position.

That voice, it was not familiar to her, but for some reason that Ruby could not fathom, she had a feeling that she knows the owner of the voice.

Completely turning her body around, her eyes widen at the sight of the man that had saved her from dead.

And she could not believe how alike his face is to her deceased mother.

True, there was contrast between the man and her mother. For example, their body build was different, although that is a given considering their respective gender. Their eyes were also different. Her mother's eyes were brilliant silver, the man's eyes was cold crimson.

Aside from that, the man before her and her mother had very eerily similar appearance.

They have the same cheekbones, the same hairstyle, same jawline, same everything.

It was disturbing for the Young Ruby.

"Who are you?" Ruby breathed out.

The man looked at her for a few seconds before taking out a cigarette from his pocket. Using the campfire to light it, he put the cigarette between his lips. The cancer stick was quickly reduced until only the cigarette bud remains. He removed it from his lips before blowing smoke twice. First, in the form of a perfect circle and the second smoke was in the form of an arrow shooting passed the circle.

That was kind of cool, Ruby admitted mentally.

Discarding the cigarette bud to the bond fire, the man spoke. "My name is Rayeth Rose." He introduced himself to Ruby, eyes squarely locked to hers. "Before you asked, the reason why I looked like this is the same reason why you have your appearance. I am related to Summer Rose."

Ruby was taken a back from that admission.

Her shocked double when the man looked forlornly up in the heavens. "I'm her twin brother, and from the way you looked at me, I guessed she had never mentioned me to you. I figure as much. Our last meeting didn't end in a high note. Me not attending her wedding must have really hurt her."

Ruby recoiled at the sight of the man's eyes. Crimson as blood, his eyes was filled with pain and loneliness that it was heartbreaking.

"Could you speak?" The man wore no expression as he spoke.

"Yes." Ruby's voice was weak, but she knew she could not afford not to speak to the man that had saved her from the jaws of death.

"Name?"

"Ruby Rose." Ruby answered curtly.

The man chuckled, voice sounding mirthless. "She always did like that name. Considering her favorite gemstone was ruby and our mother's name was Ruby, I should have figured she would name you Ruby."

Ruby's eyes widen considerably. Her mother was never much when it comes to speaking on her side of the family. Always avoiding the subject like the plague.

What the man-her uncle told her- was the first glimpsed Ruby had in her mother's side of the family.

The man, Rayeth, looked at her again, a scowl on his face, eyes devoid of any emotions. "Rest, I'll deposit you to your family later."

Ruby obeyed without any fanfare.

 _ **(Empress)**_

In the Hunter Corps of Vale, in the Hunter Corps of Remnant, if people asked who Rayeth Rose is, they will have a variety of answers, but there will be one common denominator in describing him.

Rayeth Rose is the most feared Huntsman to have walked Remnant.

The reason, he was the very definition of a Blacklist Hunter.

Contrary to popular belief, there are many types of Hunters.

Blacklist Hunters are those task to neutralized other Hunters who had betray the caused and duty in protecting Remnant.

Rayeth Rose is a Blacklist Hunter, and he was the best of the best that the Four Kingdoms could offer.

Rayeth Rose, in the ten years of his active duty as a Huntsman, made a name for himself as a Blacklist Hunter

He was feared, very feared by other Hunters because he was not known to capture his targets. Rayeth was known in outright killing them.

In the ten years of his career as a Huntsman, Rayeth Rose made a career in killing Hunters, and the body count that he had amassed in those ten years resonated in the Hunter Corps of all four kingdom.

With a kill count of over a thousand Hunters, Rayeth Rose held the most Hunter Kill in the history of the Hunter Corps of all four kingdoms.

He had also amass more Hunter Kills for the last five years, and that includes Hunters that perish in hunts against Named Grimms.

Rayeth Rose is the most feared Hunter in Remnant by virtue that he does not show mercy even to those of his kin, even to those sworn to protect Remnant from the dangers of Grimm and other foul elements that linger in the shadows.

Rayeth Rose is a Hunter Killer and that defined his career as a Huntsman in the last decade, to such extent that people, even those in his generation forgot the one aspect that defined him as a human being before he becameinfamous as a Blacklist.

Rayeth Rose was a loving brother and he had loved her twin sister, Summer Rose, like no brother should.

Which made his situation all that more complicated.

The Butcher of Hunters was now in the presence of his niece, the daughter of his beloved sister, sired by one of the people that he outright hated.

Rayeth did not know whether to laugh or to pierce someone with his spears, preferable the person who had married his sister and left her to her death.

 _ **(Empress)**_

When Ruby woke up the second time, the campfire was still ablaze while her newly discovered uncle still sat across her, eyes lingering anywhere but her.

"You awake?" Her uncle asked and this was the first time Ruby took note of her uncle's tone.

It was smooth like silk, but it held no warmth or emotions behind it.

His eyes, which was lifeless, and that was being kind, held even less.

His expression was blank as a white canvass while a scowled seemed to be etch permanently on his lips.

Looking at him clearly, with the sun shining behind him, Ruby concluded.

The person in front of him, Rayeth Rose, possessed her mother's face, he is her mother's twin, and to an extent her uncle, but he was nothing like her mother.

If there were words can described Summer Rose, it is happy and kind.

The person standing in front of her, her uncle supposedly, with his eyes and voice alone, was anything but.

"You awake?" Rayeth asked again, voice unchanging.

"Yes," Ruby answered as she sat up. She winced a bit, her body still aching but she can still manage.

"Can you walk?" With the same empty voice, her uncle inquired.

"Yes," Ruby answered again as she willed herself to her feet.

"Good." Rayeth commended with a voice that made Ruby feel more at lost and shaken than anything. Rayeth stood up and looked at the massive campfire still roaring beside him.

With a wave of his hand, the flame died until only embers remain.

Ruby was awestruck by the trick while Rayeth's expression was unchanged, as if nothing worthwhile happened.

"Come, I'll be escorting you home." Rayeth told her callously. "I originally came here to murder that Turd and Beer-for-brain but considering I stumbled upon you, I guessed I'll settle in beating them within an inch of their lives." Rayeth could be mistakenly talking about the weather with his tone of voice.

Ruby, blessed her soul, stop listening at the mention of home. Her spirit dampened at the mention of her home.

Truth be told, Ruby did not want to be anywhere near her house.

She cannot think she could withstand her family looking at her like a pariah or ignoring her existence.

Unknown to her, the change in her demeanor did not go unnoticed by Rayeth.

For Rayeth, who spent most of his Huntsman career killing wayward Hunters, Ruby was an opened book.

"Your _dad_ and Fucker NO.1 are still mourning." Rayeth half-asked, half-stated. He spat the word dad as if it was poison, and that was the first time Rayeth's tone of voice change.

Before Ruby could reply, Rayeth continued. "Of course they are." Rayeth muttered dismissively.

A looked flashed before Rayeth's eyes, a look that broke Ruby's heart for some reason. "Summer is… was a once in a lifetime human being. She's an amazing person, too kind and too forgiving for her own good. It's easy to love her and near impossible to dislike her. She had this ability to leave a good impression on anyone she meets. People who had met her, who had experience her presence, her radiance, never forgets her."

His voice was still cold but there was reverie in Rayeth's voice, a serenity that left Ruby breathless. The person in front of her spoke about her mother like a man preaching for his God.

"That is why they mourn, that is why they could not bare to look at you." Rayeth whispered loud enough for Ruby to hear. "You have her eyes, you have her hair, every inch of your face is that of Summer. You look exactly like my sister, resemble her more than I, her twin, to the point that it is almost disturbing. A trait that is common to a human is that they do not like being reminded of what they lost, especially if what they lost is precious."

"Your family does not hate you, but they dislike that you are a constant reminder of what they had lost. That's the reason why they look at you with those eyes or outright does not look at you."

If there was a word to describe Rayeth, it is detach.

He had longed stopped caring for the world, had long forgotten how to reach out, and he had never learned how to emphasize.

His words to Ruby were blunt, complicated, with complete disregard of her age.

A six-year-old girl was not capable of understanding the full weight of his words.

But for Ruby, his words was a breath of fresh air.

Her father, her Uncle Qrow, and even her sister, they alienated her from their own home without so much of a word, without even a single explanation.

Her new uncle was a mystery to her. Her mother did not mention having a brother, but at least he had given her an explanation on why she is being ostracize by her family, even if she could not fully comprehend it.

"Now, let me take you home. I've wasted enough time here in this forsaken rock. This should have been a quick trip, not a five day stay." Rayeth told her, making Ruby raised her brow.

"Five days?" Ruby asked meekly.

Rayeth nodded uncaringly. "An Aura of an individual normally awakens at age ten, age eight at the earliest. A six-year-old child should not have their aura awaken. They don't have the body to cope with such power and their body would tear itself apart internal." Rayeth explained, eyes boring into Ruby as if he was trying to bore a hole through her skull. It was unnerving. "Five days ago, you force your aura to awaken, you force your soul to manifest for you to used your Semblance, and when you had collapsed, your Aura was collapsing into you. You would have been dead if I didn't spend most of the night preventing you from having an Aura Suicide. Another thing, you awaken your aura, and believe me, that attracted most of the Grimm in this God forsaken rock. I spent three days fending off those Dumb creatures from eating you alive, and believe me, that got old fast." Rayeth grumbled in irritation.

Ruby was at lost on most of what Rayeth said. Those terms to her were alien.

Although there was, one part of his entire rant that Ruby understood perfectly.

"Wait! I was sleeping for five days!?" Ruby shouted in panic.

Rayeth looked at Ruby as if she was the stupidest thing he had ever seen. "You certainly have your father's stupidity." Rayeth mumbled under his breath. "Yes, you were. Speaking of which…" He reached into his coat and threw a bottle of water at Ruby as well as a large apple. "That's the only thing you are going to get from me, so I suggest you relish it while I take you home." Rayeth told her bluntly before shifting his gazed elsewhere. "Now, shall we get on our way?"

Ruby looked at the bottle of water and fruit in her hand. In one breath, she ate the apple and drank the water bottle dry. With her meal finish, she looked at her newly discovered uncle.

She doesn't know him. She could never remember seeing him nor her mother mentioning a twin brother before.

For all intents and purposes, Ruby should be weary of the man.

But for some reason, Ruby was somewhat comfortable with him, for the simple reason that he seemed to love her mother to a degree that she could not fathom.

Another thing, Ruby does not really want to go home, not to the place where her existence would be ignore again.

In a gamble that Ruby did not know she was taking, she looked at Rayeth and requested. "Could you come with me to a special place of mine?"

Normally, Rayeth would have rejected the request. He was not known to obey or show charity to anyone.

But, the look that Ruby was giving him reminded him of the look his sister wore whenever she wanted something really badly, and, in Rayeth's mind, if her daughter was anything like her, denying her would be futile.

With a stiff nod, Rayeth relented.

 _ **(Empress)**_

Rayeth knew that his life was about to change the minute he met his sister's daughter.

Originally, he did not care about her.

He had long stopped himself from caring for anyone aside from his sister.

Rayeth felt nothing when he looks at Ruby, regardless of being his sister's daughter.

Quite frankly, Ruby could die right now, and Rayeth would feel nothing.

He was so used in feeling nothing that Rayeth had considered his heart to be dead.

So when Ruby led him to the gravestone that belonged to his sister, he did not know where the anger and sorrow that he felt came from.

Although he blocked all of those emotions in favor of looking at Ruby's expression when she gazed at the gravestone beside her mother's.

It was rare for a child to look at her own gravestone at the age of six.

 _Here lies Ruby Rose, a beloved Daughter and Sister, who had passed before her time._

Ruby did not know how to react at the sight of her own gravestone.

It was a surreal experience for the young girl to see her own grave before her eyes without her actually dying.

Her newly discovered uncle though has some very colorful comments.

"I know Xiao-long is a lazy piece of shit but erecting a grave before finding the body of her own daughter, I must say the guy is much more of a screw up than I first though." Rayeth commented, although his eyes was not looking at Ruby's grave.

Instead, his eyes were firmly on her sister's tombstone.

"You married a piece of trash, sister." Rayeth spat casually before turning his back on the grave of his sister. "I don't want to be in the same area as Xiao-Long and Branwen. Come child, it is time for you to return to your forsaken family." Rayeth called Ruby before taking several steps away from the two graves and his, unwanted for his part, niece.

Ruby's voice, emotionless and cold, something that was unlike her, cut through the air like hot knife through butter. "I am dead to my family."

Rayeth stopped in his tracks before sighing. "Of course you are. A six year with zero knowledge to protect herself would not be expected to survive in a Grimm infested forest. Especially someone who had just awakened her Aura and became a magnet for every Grimm in a twenty mile radius." Rayeth pointed out frankly. "But I had remedied that. It only took me half a day, but it has been remedied. You won't attract Grimm likes flies to shit. You can go home now; you can now play with that little spawn that Raven brought out into this world, and you can now go with the Drunk piece of crap that you call Uncle and that waste of space that you call a father." Rayeth prompted coldly.

Ruby did not move for a full minute before she started speaking again. "Hey mom!"

"Shit!" Rayeth whispered to himself as she watched Ruby glow and red rose petals rise out from her body.

Rayeth knew Aura better than anyone in Remnant. He was the foremost expert when it comes to Aura theories and application.

He knew the effects of Aura to Grimm better than anyone did.

Negative emotions are not the only things that Grimms are attracted to. They are also attracted to Aura signatures, especially those with Aura signatures that are newly manifested.

That is why children that had just unlock there aura are quarantined for a month to avoid them being hunted by Grimms.

That's why when he stabilized Ruby five nights ago, he had to fight like hell to prevent Grimm from killing her because her aura attracted practically every Grimm in the island.

The quality of Ruby's Aura was also not helping the matter.

"It's been a while since I visited." Ruby started speaking while Rayeth took out his weapons.

The veteran Hunter could already hear the marched of approaching Grimm.

"It has been rather hectic since you, well, left us." Rayeth could feel the bitterness and despair in his niece's voice.

"We are a wreck without you."

' _I know how that feels.'_ Rayeth thought, his grip tightening on his shotguns.

"Dad is barely keeping himself together."

' _Not surprising. That guy, for all his toughness and fake machismo, has a glass heart.'_

"Uncle Qrow drinks more."

' _Drunk motherfucker.'_

"And Yang, well, she doesn't even look at me now."

' _Like mother, like daughter I guessed. The wench had never been good with people.'_

"We are broken without you. I guess we never noticed how important you are to our lives when you were alive. You kept the family together. Now that you are gone, we are broken. Especially me."

"I don't know why Dad, Uncle Qrow, and Yang started looking at me with pain in their eyes, but it hurts. It hurts whenever I'm causing them pain. I don't want that. I love them. I love them all so much." Tears were now falling from Ruby's eyes.

Rayeth, in a rare showing of care, pointed his weapons upwards, and press the trigger.

The sound of shotguns being fired caught Ruby's attention.

She turned around, only to see her uncle pointing his weapons at the forest behind them.

Ruby had never such exquisite weapons before in her life.

Her uncle held two shotguns in his hands, both looking to be antiques. Both weapons appeared to be completely made of wood.

A black shotgun in his right.

A red shotgun in his left.

The black shotguns barrel was longer than about five inches and it was more slender compare to the red shotgun.

In contrast, the red shotgun was shorter and looked to be more bulky.

Aside from that, the two shotguns had near identical appearance. From the carvings to the runes etches throughout its body.

"Watched me and forget." Rayeth's voice was carried by the wind all the way to Ruby's ears.

Ruby looked at her uncle with wonder before growls reached her ears.

Grimms started pouring out of the forest.

Ruby did not know how to categorized them, but Rayeth did and he began to make a catalogue of them.

' _Three Ursa Minor. Eight Beowolves. Four Boarbatusk.'_ Rayeth noted calmly. _'Small game._

Rayeth spun the red between his fingers, the sound of gears shifting echoed in the area, before it was transformed to a 17 meter long bisento with a blade two feet long, crimson it color with a dark edge. Holding the weapon on the center, he carved a line on the ground several yards from him, a few feet away from where the Grimm had gathered. With an expert spin, he converted the polearm into a shotgun once again.

"Cross that, you die." Rayeth told them, lethality oozing from his voice.

The challenge was laid, and the Grimm answered.

With a roar, the first to charge were two Beowolves, young Beowolves in Rayeth's perspective.

The moment they've cross the line that Rayeth carved, the Hunter made a move.

Pointing the black shotgun at the gap between the two Beowolves, he pushed the trigger.

A black blast erupted from the barrel of the shotgun, taking both Grimms off their feet on impact, turning both their bodies to mush.

One of the Ursa charged at Rayeth, and met the same fate as the Beowolves. The blast from Rayeth's shotgun was enough to blow its upper body completely to smithereens.

Two of the Boarbatusks rolled rapidly towards him rapidly.

This time, Rayeth did not bother firing his gun.

Instead, he waited for the two beast to be near, before aiming his red Shotgun at the nearest Boarbatusk. Pulling the trigger, a purplish-black blast made impact on the ground, sending the bulky Grimm up to the air.

Raising a single foot, he stomped at the second Boarbatusk, effectively stopping the rolling Grimm on its tracks.

Rayeth pointed his black shotgun at the Grimm on the air while his red shotgun on the one in front of him.

He pushed the trigger, and both Grimms died in a shower of blood, their body parts scattered on the ground in a gory fashion.

Seeing their brethren slaughtered by the Hunter, the remaining Grimms lunged at Rayeth with reckless abandon.

Rayeth was ready for them.

He spun both of his weapon in his hands.

A red bisento on his left.

A two meter tall, pitched black Partisan with a two meter blade that emits a purplish glow on his right.

Holding both spears at their center, he spun both spears between his fingers before calmly gliding towards the group of Grimms that were stupid enough to challenge him.

The first Grimm that reached the range of his spear was beheaded courtesy of a sharp slash from his black partisan.

The second Grimm was pierce through its heart by the crimson bisento.

The third Grimm was cut into pieces courtesy of the maelstrom of slashes produces by Rayeth's spears.

The fourth and fifth Grimm was impaled through their midsection courtesy of the two spears, and Rayeth easily lifted both Grimms off their feet with an impressive show of strength.

What's even more impressive, Rayeth did not stop spinning his spears even if both had Grimm stuck on them.

The sixth Grimm that reached Rayeth's attack range did not fare well like its brethren. Using the blunt part of his spears, he pummeled the Grimm with such force and speed until the Grimm was battered to death.

The seventh Grimm was bisected by both spears.

The eight and ninth Grimm, their heads was split open by two swift, downward slash from each of Rayeth's spears.

The last Grimm, it was impaled through by both spears and was taken of its feet.

The exchange lasted for a complete five seconds.

Ten Grimms fell, with three run through and impaled through by his weapon, bleeding and decomposing.

With a tugged and a pulled, the Grimms that Rayeth pulled fell to the ground with a thud.

Rayeth looked away from the carnage, ignoring the creatures that fell before his might.

His eyes fell on his niece.

Rayeth would be the first to admit that he was not the most elegant fighter.

He had long discarded elegance for brutality a long time ago.

Most of the people that had seen him fight are mostly appalled and/or horrified at how brutal he fights, Summer included.

Ruby, a child, did not look horrified or scared.

Instead, he looked awestruck at the display that she had witness, regardless of how gory it is.

And that alone was enough for Rayeth to come to a conclusion, an enlightenment.

' _She's dead to them and he did steal my sister.'_ Rayeth thought cruelly as he formulated a plan.

He formulated his revenge.

' _She doesn't look to keen to return to that idiot, not that I blame her.'_ With each stepped, Rayeth willed himself to do something unconventional

"A daughter for a sister." Rayeth nodded.

He knelt down towards Ruby.

The admiration in Ruby's eyes did not leave even when she was staring at the coldest pair of eyes that she had ever seen.

"You have my sister's eyes, so I know you want to be a Huntress." Ruby nodded vigorously at that statement.

Rayeth rolled his eyes.

Typical.

"I cannot care for you like an uncle would. I have no attachment nor affection for you, but if you are willing to leave everything you know behind, your family, your sister, your life as you knew it without saying a goodbye, I would train you turn you to a Hunter greater than Summer herself."

Rayeth gave his offer to the young Ruby.

He was half praying for Ruby to decline.

The answer that she gave was something that she expected from her sister's daughter, as well as something he dreaded.

"Okay."

 _ **(Empress)**_

Rayeth stood in front of the grave of his sister, expression unreadable as he threw a single black rose on top of the grave.

Ruby was no longer with him. The young girl was now resting in his personal transport.

Without the younger girl, Rayeth decided to try his hand in speaking to his sister's grave.

"So, I actually outlived you." Rayeth grumbled passively, sadness evident in every word. "How the hell did that happen, Summer. I mean come on, you're a Harvests Huntress, you hunt Grimm, and Grimm die easily. I'm a Blacklist Huntsman, I hunt Hunters that lost their way and became threats to society. I think we both know who has the stiffer and more dangerous prey." Rayeth scowled a bit at the reminder of his occupation.

To this day, the younger Rose did not know why he hasn't quit his day job yet. He had saved enough to live the rest of his life doing nothing.

"So, how do I say this?" Rayeth returned in speaking to his sister's grave, doing his best not to sound depress or torn up. "Your daughter is going to start living with me by the way. I think she inherited your complete lack of self-preservation. I mean, come on, look at me." Rayeth waved his hand over himself, as if presenting his entire being to a crowd.

"Considering the shit that I did in my life, I am not the poster boy for child care." Rayeth chuckled bitterly at those words. "Looks like I grew up like dad after. A useless waste of space."

Ruffling his hair, Rayeth continued. "Your daughter choose to live with me, and I already gave her the ultimatum. I can't treat her like family, Summer. I can't and I won't. I think you understand why. I don't have a long life expectancy, sister. The fact that I had lived this long is a miracle in itself." Hunters don't have a long life expectancy, especially those that choose to become Blacklist Hunters. "I'm going to take your daughter as an apprentice." Rayeth announced and the winter winds suddenly stirred, which made Summer's twin brother laugh.

"Don't be like that sister, you know that daughter of yours would follow your footsteps. She's too much like you not to be a Huntress. Also, she awoke her Aura at age six. That is not natural." The wind suddenly died and Rayeth grin victoriously. "I knew you would see it my way."

Sighing one more time, Rayeth spoke a topic that was very closed to the vest. "I told you marrying fuck for brains was a horrible idea. That wench leaving fuck for brains should have clued you in at how worthless that man is." Rayeth's expression darken considerably. "That fucker hurt your daughter, he raised his hand on your daughter because he is too weak to differentiate your daughter from you. He sees your daughter as a ghost of what he had lost. That's a shitting reminder of our childhood, right Summer?"

Rayeth clenched his fist as black rose petals spiraled around him, the atmosphere around him becoming heavier.

"What did you see in that fucker, Summer!? I had despised Xiao-Long more than I despised anyone in your team. He reminded me so much like dad that I wanted to run him through the first time we exchange words. I mean come on sister, have you forgotten the abuse that we experience in our father's hands, the beatings, the insults, the scars that were carved into our body by his hands. Why did you marry someone so similar to our dad?! Xiao-Long failed as a man and failed as a father, just like that man, so why did you choose him?!"

"I would be more at ease if you had chosen Branwen. As much as that Drunk fucker and I hate each other, I respect that man and I respect him as a Huntsman. He wouldn't have let you died. He would have stood with you, and he would have taken a death blow for you, like I would have had."

Taking a deep breath and doing his best to cool down his anger, Rayeth buried his face to his hands, desperately trying to hold back the tears. "I want to hate you. I so want to hate you. You broke my heart so many times it is not even funny anymore. You were always my damn priority but I was never yours. You choose so many over me. You choose that damn team of yours over me. You choose that Fucker over me. You choose that daughter of yours over me."

Rayeth stood still in silence for a moment before chuckling bitterly. "The last one, I can accept."

"I never picture myself outliving you. I mean come on. You, the White Rose, the most beloved huntress in our generation, capable of leading hundreds of Hunters to battle, with all of them willing to take a bullet for you, and then me, the Black Rose, or that damn epithet those morons gave me more recently, the Human Grimm, the most hated and feared Huntsman in Remnant, of all times. I figured you would have outlived me, I figure that you are going to be the one who is going to bury me."

Rayeth laughed. "To be honest, that was the only thing I am looking for in my life. Now, I only have the hunt and the goal to turn your daughter into someone who can fend for herself in this damn, despicable world."

Turning his back from the grave, Rayeth started walking away. "When we began our training to be Hunters, there was a choice given to us. It was not clear when we were young and naïve, but it is clear now. One path is to be a Hero; the other path is to be a Weapon. You choose the former, Summer. I choose the latter. You were loved because of your decision. I was feared because of mine. I will give your daughter the same question. Whatever her decision is, I going to make sure that she would live passed her seventies."

"That would be my last gift to the only woman that I have ever loved."

Covering his head with his black hood, Rayeth walked away from the grave of the only being that he had ever cared for.

* * *

 _ **Training starts next chapter, and Adam would appear in the fifth.**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Empress**_

 _ **Training Part 1**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY**_

* * *

The moment Ruby Rose opened her eyes; there are several things that she instantly notice.

One, she was in a bed that was softer than her bed in Patch, not to mention bigger.

Second, she was in a room that was roughly five times bigger than her bedroom back at home and it was bare of any personalization from her.

Third, there was a gigantic black wolf on the edge of her bed, looking at her patiently.

Ruby instantly knew that she wasn't in Patch anymore.

But she knew, she acknowledge that this was her choice.

"This is my life now." Ruby whispered to herself as she sat up.

 _ **(Empress)**_

Rayeth was currently waiting on his dining room for his new apprentice to make an appearance.

In front of him was a simple breakfast that he had prepared for them.

Say what you will about Rayeth Rose, but he was a very good cook, he had to be. He could still remember that his sister was a horrendous cook when they were children. If he did not learn how to cook, both he and his sister would have not survive before they were admitted into Beacon.

' _Good times.'_ Rayeth thought to himself bitterly.

Rayeth composed himself when he heard footsteps outside of his dining room.

He did not need to guess whom those footsteps belong to.

When the door of his dining room opened, Ruby Rose, his niece and apprenticed walked in. She was led into the room by one of his pet wolves, Monster.

"Good work, Monster." Grabbing one of his bacon, Rayeth threw it towards his pet. Monster caught the piece of bacon in his mouth before letting out a howl of approval.

Rayeth looked passed his pet and looked at Ruby.

Rayeth raised a brow at what Ruby was wearing.

It was a dress.

Specifically it was a dress that used to belong to her sister.

It was frilling and girly, with many ribbons.

The dress was white with black highlights.

Ruby wore it well, just like his sister, her mother.

But it was clear as day that she was very uncomfortable with her attire.

Which was a relief for Rayeth.

Ruby looked like his beloved sister more than he does, her twin, and although Rayeth had already made peace with two crucial yet painful truths in his life, looking at someone who was more of a mirror image of his most precious person that he was, is a tall order, even for him.

"Good morning, Ruby." Rayeth greeted calmly and passively before gesturing to a seat in front of him.

"Good morning, Uncle." Ruby greeted back and Rayeth instantly shook his head.

' _That is no good for several reasons.'_ Rayeth thought, resisting the urge to glare at the girl. He does not feel any connection or affection for Ruby, but she is still the daughter of his beloved sister. For that alone, he can be somewhat gentle with her.

"Ruby," It does not mean he would change his piercing voice or would stop scowling for her. "We had already discuss this before I allowed you to come with me. I would not be able to treat you as family and I sure had not done anything for you to treat or call me uncle."

Ruby flinched at those words. Rayeth did not care.

"In this household, you will call me Rayeth. No more, no less." Rayeth instructed Ruby strictly. "Now, let's begin again. Good morning, Ruby."

I took Ruby several seconds to reply but she was able to manage. "Good morning, Rayeth." Ruby's voice was noticeably more reserved compare to her earlier reply.

Still, Rayeth nodded in approval.

"Sit and eat, your training will begin after breakfast." Rayeth informed his young apprenticed while he started eating himself.

"Really?" Ruby inquired, suddenly being excited at the new development.

Rayeth, not caring whether Ruby is excited or not, nodded. "I have no new hits for today. I can start your training now. We can start early; develop your foundation now and then you can expand it in the future." Rayeth elaborated before pointing at the meal across him. "Eat, you'll be needing the energy." Rayeth instructed calmly.

Ruby nodded, heeding the advice of her uncle. Sitting down, Ruby surveyed the meal in front of her. It was a rice meal with a sunny-side up egg on top, filled with vegetables with beef, bacon, and a large cut of chicken. Taking in the scent of the meal, Ruby would admit that it was heavenly.

Taking the spoon on the side of her plate, Ruby broke the yolk, allowing the yolk to cascade down the rice. Taking a spoon full of rice, Ruby started eating. The first spoon full that Ruby ate, her eyes widen as a myriad of flavors exploded in her mouth.

"It's delicious." Ruby muttered in a dazed as she looked at the meal in front of her. Taking another spoonful, Ruby trembled at the taste of her meal. It was remarkably tasteful; better than any her mother had cook for her.

"It's to be expected." Rayeth mumbled under his breath. "I was always been the better cook between my sister and I."

' _I'm also the better fighter, but that's about it.'_ Rayeth added in his thoughts.

Rayeth would not admit the delight that he felt as he watched the enjoyment on Ruby's face at the meal that he had prepared. It made him remember some pleasant memories.

Memories when life was simple and not so tragic.

 _ **(Empress)**_

"Wow!" Ruby muttered as Rayeth and she walked into a garage filled to the brim with vintage cars.

"There are four things that a Hunter should spend their lien to: Their weapons, their transportation, their home based, and their dust." Rayeth lectured while walking towards one of his convertibles. "Suffice to say, I spend a lot for my transportation." Rayeth hopped into the convertible before opening the door for Ruby.

"Get in. I'll show you something nice." Rayeth told Ruby while pointing at the back seat of his car.

Enthusiastically, Ruby hopped into the car.

"Seatbelts." Rayeth told Ruby while pointing at the safety device.

When Ruby was safely strapped in, Rayeth drove out of the garage.

As they drive out of Rayeth's estate, Ruby can't help but stare at the large castle that was Rayeth's home, or based of operation as he called it.

Rose Castle.

It was a Gothic castle with a touch of Roman architecture. It was a beautiful piece of architecture though it gave a haunting feel. It was large, roughly half the size of the village that she used to live in.

It was somewhat sad that Rayeth was living in his large castle for years all alone, with only his pets as his companions.

"When she was young, Summer always dreamt of living in a castle." Rayeth mentioned, catching Ruby's attention. "I don't know whether it was just a young girl's fantasy or a goal she had set up for herself, but she really wanted a castle. She mentioned that in her castle, all of her friends and their families would live together and all of them would be happy." Rayeth rolled his eyes at the childish dream of his elder sister.

"That was a foolish thought coming from my sister, but I always liked the look in her eyes whenever she tells me of the castle that she would one day build when she becomes a hunter. Unfortunately, the salary of Harvest Hunters is not that big." Rayeth shook his head before concentrating his entire attention to the path ahead.

Ruby looked at her uncle wishfully, hoping that he would talk more about her mother. But after several seconds of silence, Ruby knew that she would not get any more stories from her uncle.

Ruby looked backed at the castle that her uncle calls his house.

She did not know whether the castle that he was living in was the castle in her mother's dreams, but in a way, it made Ruby feel that she was getting to know her mother in a way that her father or Uncle Qrow cannot offer her.

 _ **(Empress)**_

Rayeth drove the convertible until they reached a wide clearing.

Parking the convertible in the edge of the clearing, Rayeth jumped out of the car.

Ruby was about to followed but Rayeth looked at her with eyes clearly telling her to stay in the car.

"Don't move. Just watch." Rayeth instructed her with a strict voice.

Noting the voice of her uncle, Ruby nodded and made herself extra comfortable inside the car.

When Rayeth was sure that Ruby would not disobey him, he took a small Scroll from his pocket and handed it to Ruby.

"You're training starts now. You will listen to my instructions, all of them, to the letter." Rayeth told Ruby while putting an earpiece on his right ear. "You understand?"

"Yes," Ruby answered enthusiastically.

Shaking his head at his apprentice's misplaced excitement, Rayeth walked in the middle of the clearing, far away from Ruby and his vehicle.

When he deemed that he was far enough, he put the hood of his black cloak over his head before allowing his aura to be unleashed to the world.

Ruby did not know what hit her. One second, she felt find, the next, she felt a gigantic wave of malice and bloodlust suddenly crashed down upon her. Ruby suddenly felt a weight so dense on her shoulders and air suddenly came in short supply as if her throat was being constricted. She also found difficulty in moving, as if she was underwater, deep underwater.

Still, regardless if her body was in the verge of a collapsed, was in the verge of shutting down, Ruby remained awake.

The reason is due to the sight of her uncle. His entire body was glowing with power and like her mother; rose petals were being exuded from his body.

But instead of white, the rose petals that his body was emitting were black, pitch black, blacker than the night itself.

They gave off a menacing feel, and Ruby could touch the bloodlust in those black petals. They were the complete opposites of her mother's, who radiates warmth and comfort by the waves.

And in a way, her uncle's rose petals was as beautiful as those rose petals that her deceased mother used to emit when she was alive.

The exquisite scenery that her uncle was producing was the only thing keeping Ruby conscious. She wanted to drink in the sight of those black rose petals that her uncle's power was producing.

So regardless of his uncle's power suffocating her, bearing down upon her like a ton of weight, Ruby fought to remain awake in order to witness the might and beauty of her uncle's power.

Three minutes later, it could have been an hour for Ruby, Rayeth reigned in his aura.

Ruby found the weight on his body lifted and her ability to breathe normally returned.

Ruby felt somewhat disappointed that the show ended abruptly.

"[Are you still conscious?]" Rayeth's voice echoed in the scroll.

"Yes." Ruby answered, her voice weak, something that surprised her.

Several seconds passed before Rayeth spoke again. "[Surprising, most people who experience the full brunt of my Aura usually faints or they pissed themselves, whichever comes first.]" Rayeth knew how potent his aura is, how he could easily make those weaker than him tremble or collapsed by merely exposing them of his aura. The fact that Ruby, untrained and young, could stay conscious while he was purposely projecting his Aura was a surprised.

Some fully trained Huntsmen and Huntresses faints by merely sensing his aura while Ruby survived full exposure.

' _He does have Summer's blood, and to an extent, mine.'_

Sighing a little, Rayeth spoke one more time. "[Lesson 1, Aura.]"

Ruby perked up at those words.

"[Contrary to popular belief, Aura is the best weapons that Hunters have at their disposal. Forgets weapons, forget Dust, Aura is what makes a Hunter.]"

Rayeth always despised Hunters for forgoing Aura training in favor of advancing their weaponry or leaning how to used Dust in an advance level.

Sure, weapons are an extension of one's body and Dust is a trump card that could turn any battle to one's favor.

But those are nothing more than cosmetics.

Aura is the lifeblood of a Hunter.

Aura is what makes a Hunter.

"[I can give you ten hours' worth of lecture on what Aura is and its usage, but I'll do that when you get the vocabulary to understand half the things I am saying.]" Rayeth was known throughout the kingdom as the foremost expert in Aura combat, his knowledge about Aura is second only to Professor Ozpin.

Unfortunately, his reputation as a Hunter Killer outweighs his reputation as an Aura Master.

"[For now, I'll give you a demonstration.]"

The ground tremble, repeatedly, and Ruby's eyes widen fearfully when a Grimm, a large Elephant like Grimm slowly walked into the clearing, its eyes death set on Rayeth.

"Rayeth." Ruby whispered frightfully.

Rayeth shook his head at her niece.

"[That Ruby is a Goliath. One of the largest recorded Grimm in Remnant. Also one of the smartest, although some young Goliath's can be as dumb as shit. Most fully matured Goliath's can go as big as 20 to 50 stories. This one is young, only being 10 stories in height.]" Turning around, and showing his back to the Grimm, Rayeth locked his eyes on Ruby.

"[I am not going to use Romeo or Juliet. That will be overkill for a Grimm this young and for a simple demonstration.]" Grabbing a blindfold, he covered his eyes. "[Ruby, watch me, do not remove your eyes from me, not for a single second.]" Rayeth instructed.

From her seat, Ruby could only nod as she watched her uncle face-off against the colossal Grimm.

With a roar that normal Elephants should not be capable of, the Goliath charged at Rayeth, who did not even bother turning his back to face the Grimm.

When the Goliath was within striking range, it tried to clobber Rayeth with the use of its trunk.

Rayeth did not even bother moving and merely continue to lecture Ruby.

"[There are several uses for Aura. In combat, you only need four, six at most.]" Rayeth ducked to avoid being hit by the trunk of the Goliath. "[For starters, we have Perception. Perception is the art of increasing one's senses with the used of Aura. As you can see…]"

Rayeth ducked, jumped, leaned, side stepped, all the attempts of the Grimm to clobber him with its trunks, all the while not moving from his original position.

The Goliath getting irritated by Rayeth, took several steps back before charging at him at full speed, with the intention of goring him with the use of his tusk.

Rayeth avoided being gore by sliding under the behemoth, grabbing its trunks in one fluid motion. With a tugged as he slid to the ground, he was able to flip the Goliath on its back, causing the clearing to shook.

"[Next his Enhancement.]" Rayeth continued as he lazily walked around the Goliath until he was facing the monster.

The Goliath glared at him and Rayeth glared back behind his blindfold.

Rayeth grabbed the tusk of the monster and with some effort, he lifted the monster off its feet and held it perfectly horizontal off the ground. "[With Enhancement, you can increase the physical parameters of your body by a hundred to a thousand times its normal capacity. Whether it be running, leaping, gripping, or lifting strength, all your physical parameters can be increased with Aura.]" To show his point, Rayeth threw the Goliath back into the forest, roughly a hundred yards from him.

"[Next used in Aura in battle is Defensive.]" Cracking his neck, Rayeth waited for the Goliath to rise and attacked. Young Grimm tends to be nothing more than wild animals, with no preservations instinct.

Goliaths can be smart and a fully matured Goliath will run against a superior opponent for preservation, Rayeth knows this from experience.

But, a young one would continue to attack until its dead.

Rayeth is counting on that.

And his prediction came true as the ground trembled once again. The Goliath emerged from the forest and charged at him recklessly.

Rayeth extended his right arm, fingers outstretch, palm facing the Goliath. With a deep breath, black rose petals started spiraling out of his right palm.

When the tusk of the Grimm was about to strike him, he closed his hand, allowing the rose petals to merged and form a single, glowing, black rectangular shield that stopped the Goliath on its track. The shield was larger than Rayeth and was amazingly durable enough to prevent the Goliath to move a single inch.

"[Anyone with an active Aura would allow them to both unconsciously and consciously protect themselves from attack, whether it be physical, dust-based, or aura based attacks. Anyone with active Auras would always have a layer of protections against attacks. Once you learn to use Aura though, you can create force fields than can shield large areas.]"

"[Last, and the most common usage of Aura, is Offensive.]" Lifting his left hand, he struck the surface of the shield, causing it to explode violently. This made the Goliath flew across the clearing, its tusks broken due to the violent aura explosion.

"[Aura can be used for attacks. Whether it is to enhance a simple punch to give it a force a one-ton truck moving at the speed of 75 miles an hour…]" Rayeth closed the distance between him and the Goliath in a blink of an eye. "[…or something as complex as this.]" Rayeth clenched his right hand and formed a fist before smashing it on the head of the downed Goliath.

A massive and blinding black flash erupted from the surface where Rayeth's fist made contact with the head of the Goliath.

A narrow beam went straight through the other end of the humongous Grimm.

When Rayeth turned around, his black cloak billowing, he did not even bother giving the Goliath that he had easily slayed a glance.

If he did, he would see that the entire head of the Goliath was completely obliterated to none existence and there was a very noticeable hole from the neck all the way to the other end of the Grimm.

Rayeth paid no mind to his handy work.

Ruby, on the other hand, looked at awe at how amazing her uncle is.

When Rayeth hopped back into the car, Ruby yelled excitedly at his ear. "THAT WAS THE MOST COOLEST THING IN THE WORLD!" Ruby shouted enthusiastically, much to Rayeth's chargin. "YOU WERE LIKE *SWISH*, THEN YOU WERE *TUSH*, THEN YOU WERE LIKE *SHUSH*, THEN YOU WERE LIKE *SWISH* AGAIN, AND THEN YOU WERE *POW* AND THEN YOU…" Rayeth made a move to cover Ruby's mouth with one his hand to prevent the girl from talking his ear out.

"As expected for a child, you were impress with something so basic." Rayeth mumbled disapprovingly. "But I guess I can let this one go." Rayeth conceded as he removed his hand from Ruby's mouth before starting the car.

"We are going to start with your Aura training immediately. We are going to start on working with your Perception for the first couple of months, before I start of Enhancement and Defensive." Rayeth informed her and there was a sense of energy that Ruby was exuding that did not bode well for the Blacklist hunter.

"That was basic?" Ruby asked innocently as she remembered the earlier words of her uncle.

"For me, yes, what I showed you is basic." Rayeth drove off towards his house while looking at Ruby with the used of the rear view mirror. "There are two crucial things you must remember when you become a Hunter, Ruby. First, Young Grimms are easy prey, Older Grimms are a challenge, Ancient Grimms are a Bitch, and Primordial Grimms are a death sentence. Second, don't show all your cards if you can win with just the basics or with just plain essentials alone." Rayeth told her casually while flexing his shoulders for a bit.

"Remembers those two things and you will go far."

Ruby clings to the words that left her uncle's lips.

 _ **(Empress)**_

Returning to the Rose Castle, Rayeth led Ruby underground, into a chamber that held too many rooms to count.

"You're young but your Aura is active. That can be a double-edge sword for someone as young as you so we will work on you actually learning how to use your Aura before we do anything else. We will start with Perception because it is the easiest to learn and the most important." Rayeth told Ruby as he opened a door that led to a pitch white room. Rayeth looked at Ruby and motioned her into the room. "Get in."

Ruby looked uncertain for a moment before entering the white room.

The moment that she was five steps inside the room, the door closed shut behind her.

Ruby spun when she heard the door closed before quickly realizing that she was alone in the white room.

In a very disturbing white room.

Everything was white. From the floor, to the ceiling, to the walls, everything was white.

The surfaces of the room were smooth as it can be no visible bumps or any unequal surfaces.

The light that illuminated the room was a bit eerie as well. It emphasizes the emptiness of the room to the point that it was haunting.

Ruby looked around at the emptiness around her and immediately wanted to leave.

"[This is one of my Interrogation rooms.]" Rayeth's voice echoed throughout the room in such a way that it made Ruby cringe.

A voice so cold should not echo or amplify to that degree.

"[Completely sound proof. No footsteps in the halls, no electricity humming through the wires, and even the lights are design to be completely silent. In that room, the only thing you will hear in that room is your blood flowing through your veins, the breathing of your heart in your chest, the sound of your own breath as you exhale and inhale, and the sound of your own voice, amplified to a degree of five.]" Rayeth elaborated as if he was speaking about the weather and not a room designed to slowly drive a person insane. "[Here's what I want you to do Ruby, and don't expect me to repeat myself. Dim your sense until you can't hear anything, dimmed your senses until the only way that you can hear is through your soul. I want you to abandon your human flesh in favor of you spiritual body.]"

With that instruction given, the room became completely silent, except for the sound of Ruby's heart pounding in her chest.

For the first time in her life, Ruby could hear, as clear as day, the sound of her beating heart, the flow of her blood in her veins, and the sound of air entering and leaving her body.

It was a disturbing experience.

 _ **(Empress)**_

When he took Ruby as an apprentice, Rayeth already decided on how he would train her.

Rayeth was known to be a ruthless Blacklist Hunter.

He had to be considering that he is the best Blacklist Hunter in Remnant.

And he would use that ruthlessness in shaping Ruby to be a Huntress.

Rayeth had seen them all.

Every type of Hunter under the sun, every type of weapon conceived, every type of fighting style imaginable, Rayeth had seen it and in some cases, he had experienced them.

He had seen the best and he had fought the best.

He had also put down the worst of the best.

Rayeth knew how dark the world could be. He faced and fought that darkness in a daily basis.

He was part of that darkness.

And he would make sure that Ruby would be equip to survive the darkness of the life that she would be entering.

Whether it be Grimm or another Hunter or a natural disaster, he would train Ruby to be ready to survive against any foe.

He owed his sister so much that he would make sure her daughter would become one of the strongest Hunter in the history.

If he had to break her to mold her into a respectable and powerful Huntress, so be it.

If he had to train her with the intention of raising a person capable of killing him, the Best Blacklist Hunter in Remnant who is very much capable of killing every Hunter in existence, so be it.

Ruby Rose had chosen this life after all, and Rayeth Rose would make it his mission for her to be ready.

Whatever it takes, whatever means necessary, he would turn his niece into a Huntress that would take the world by storm.

* * *

 _ **Sorry this took a while. February was hell. I had to work an 11 hour shift for the entirety month of February**_


	4. Chapter 4

**_Empress_**

 ** _Training Part 2_**

 ** _Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY_**

* * *

 _ **(Rayeth POV)**_

Hero.

I hate that word.

I hate that word so much.

The word Hero means a person who is admire for great or brave acts or fine qualities.

That's bullshit of course.

The word Hero is a very ambiguous word.

After all, in the end, there are no Heroes in this world.

There are no definite heroes in this world.

There are no such things as heroes by definition.

You can be a hero to others and a villain to some.

In fact, I would say that everyone is a villain.

There are no heroes.

There are just villains.

That said, what makes a hero?

What does it mean to be a hero?

What does it take to be a hero?

Frankly, I don't care.

I have never been a Hero. I never claim to be one and I will never be one.

Not again.

After all, being hero will only lead to two things.

Death and disappointment.

I prefer the former.

Less painful.

 _ **(Empress) (Rayeth POV)**_

How long has it been?

Eight months, two weeks, and three days since I rescued my sister's daughter from death and took her under my wing.

Suffice to say, I have my regrets.

Looking at the mirror image of my sister hurts more than a bullet in the face, more excruciating than a knife in the heart.

But, a promise is a promise.

I'll turn the girl into a Huntress that surpasses my sister.

I will make sure that my sister's daughter would live pass her forties.

"Focus." I instructed casually as I made myself comfortable on the tree that I was leaning on. "Don't force your aura to do anything. You are going to get yourself killed in the field if you do that. Instead, let it flow naturally, let it take its shape naturally."

It was weird giving instructions.

It was bizarre for me to give orders.

I am not used to it.

After all, I am so used to working alone.

When you work alone, there is no need to give instructions, no need to give orders.

Just do and hope it works.

Also, I never see myself as a teacher.

Most that knows who I am would probably rank me as the last person they want children to be taught by.

My reputation is very horrendous after all.

And yet…

"Yes Uncle Rayeth…" Ruby, my niece (still feeling awkward calling her that, even in my head), replied absentmindedly. Although she whispered the word uncle, I did not bother scolding her.

It doesn't matter after all.

Summer is my only family.

Her daughter doesn't count.

Still, I am pleased to see that she obeyed.

A flurry of rose petals spiral out of her body.

Fighting the urge to roll my eyes (our family manifest our aura in the form of rose petals, incognito with our last name), I could not help but admire the beauty of Ruby's aura.

The quality of her Aura is surreal. I know that a person is born with a certain Aura quality, but for one to be born with a Category-10 Aura quality, that is like finding a needle in a sea of haystack.

If Ruby was born with a large Aura quantity, she would be perfect.

Sadly, her Aura Quantity is very low, even for her age.

But quantity, I can work with.

Quantity, in aura, is not define.

The only thing that is definite when it comes to Aura is quality.

Anything else aside from that, anything else related to Aura can be develop and can be enhance with training.

Speaking of which.

"What do you see?" I asked my young apprenticed.

"I see a tree." Of course you see a tree. We are in the middle of a damn forest.

"Give me a description." I thought for a second. "Give me five."

"Yes." Ruby replied as she narrowed her eyes. Her silver eyes, a trait of my bloodline that I would rather live without, glowed crimson.

"The tree is a bit weird." I would never expect her to develop a comprehensive verbal dictionary. She is so like my sister, it would be hilarious if it is not so sad. "The tree has pink petals which is kinda cool but a bit girly."

That Jackass' airheadedness is strong in you. Grow out of that before I beat it out of you.

"There are some cool looking birds perched on the right side of the tree, or is it the left side." I resisted face palming my head when Ruby started raising her hands in random. Children her age should not be confused on what is right and what is left.

That is common sense.

Again, I blame that Jackass' genes mixing with my sister's.

"Definitely right…And there's a flower on the bottom part of the tree. Don't know what it is, but it is not pink." Completely random but okay I guess.

"There is a cute Squirrel inside of the tree, and its nibbling on a nut! So cute." Ruby gushed and I shook my head at her childishness.

I am going to beat that out of her in the future.

Still, that is five descriptions, sort of.

I looked at the direction where Ruby is focusing her gazed at before utilizing my aura to enhance my eyesight.

I immediately zeroed in to the tree that Ruby was describing (awfully).

"400 meters." I whispered and I was internally impress.

Most Scrubs that graduates from Beacon or those other academies could barely see a third of that distance.

Of course, I blame the curriculum.

Too much dust and weapon focus, and less aura focus.

One of the few reasons why rookies are the highest casualties in the field.

Depending on tools can only bring people so far.

That being said, onwards with the training.

"Okay, next, what do you hear?"

Ruby nodded as she closed her eyes.

There was a moment of silence between us as the only sound that echoed in our immediate vicinity is the wind.

"I could hear an engine."

Using Aura to enhance my hearing, I indeed could hear the sound of an engine of a vehicle, specifically an Engine model X495-CSalamander from a distance of 12000 meters.

Again impressive.

"I could also hear children playing with a ball of some kind."

Hear that as well from a distance of 4000 meters, and from the sound of the ball, those children are playing with a basketball, and both of them cannot shoot for shit.

"I could hear birds chirping and I could also hear the breathing of a pig of some kind."

Wild boar 2000 meters away and the birds are of 6000 meters away.

Impressive, there are room for improvements, but impressive for a beginner.

If she can simultaneously see and hear this far while in motion and in a 360-degree radius, she will be in good shape.

She won't be blindsided by Grimms and she could detect and intercept small projectiles with ease before it makes contact.

That's good.

Now, let see if she has improve her defense.

I removed myself from the tree that I am leaning on.

Cloaking myself with my Aura, I removed all the noise that my footsteps would generate.

Sneaking behind her unheard, I lifted my right leg up in the air before…

 ***WHACK***

…swiftly delivering a kick on her head.

She fell down on the ground, and she was unconscious.

Predictable result.

She doesn't have the Aura capacity to eat any blows from me and remain conscious.

Full pledge Hunters gets concussion if ever my fist connects with their heads.

A six year old child has no chance.

But, I guest Ruby's control over her Aura is improving.

After all, she was not bleeding on her head.

First time I kick her, Ruby's skull was split open.

Now, she's just unconscious, with a large possibility of being concuss.

Well, there was not blood.

That's a good improvement, all things considered.

 _ **(Empress) (Rayeth POV)**_

Have I ever mention how much I hate idiots.

Idiocy is the number 1 killer in the field.

Forget Grimm, forget rogues, stupidity will kill you before anything else in the field.

That's why I am advocate of continuous study. I am a heavy reader and the only thing I watch in my scroll or in the T.V are documentaries.

I don't watched news considering 70% of them are propaganda. I stick with written text. More accurate.

Food for the mind is good for the body.

Some trivial knowledge can save you from unseen forces in the battlefield.

That is something that I am trying to teach Ruby.

Unfortunately, she has inherited some of that idiot's stupid genes.

It is difficult to override habits derive from genetics.

"Did I call you an idiot recently?" I asked my apprentice patiently.

"Four hours ago." Ruby replied cheekily and at that time, I resisted the urge to kick her again.

Stupid girl.

"Not recent enough." I slammed the papers right in front of the table across her. "Revise the essay. You have misinterpreted the translation by a wide margin."

"Also revised this paper as well. There are some major corrections by the comparison that you process between the chemicals that you are presenting."

"And please, revised the calculation from your math paper number 5, 17, 36. You are way off in those items, it is almost funny."

I half instructed, half-scolded Ruby while she scampered to correct her papers.

I know it's illogical. The material that I am forcing Ruby to learn is advance beyond her age.

People at age 18 will have trouble with the material that I am forcing Ruby to learn.

But, I don't care.

She will learn the material that I am teaching her, willingly or by force.

I am leaning in by force at the moment but I can be patient.

"Ruby," I called out and she immediately looked at me with teary eyes.

I don't care about her teary eyes, but an explanation is in order to drive into her how important that subjects that I am teaching her.

"There are three subjects that you must learn and master. Language, Mathematics, and Science."

"Language is self-explanatory. Even if English is the universal language of all four kingdoms, not everyone can speak English. Atlas has 15 active languages, Mistral has 17, Vacuo has 10, and Vale has 11. I don't expect you to learn all of those languages, but I expect you to know enough to at least get the context of those languages. Avoiding miscommunication is a must skill to have in between missions."

Many wars started due to miscommunication.

"Mathematics is important because calculating trajectories whether it be attacks or travel is a crucial skill to have for any Hunter worth their salt. Whether it be close, mid, or long range, trajectory is key for victory and survival. You need to know how to adjust from the smallest of degrees."

Math wins battles and it helps avoids casualties. I should know, considering my methods.

"Science would help you utilize your surroundings as a weapon or for survival. Biology, chemistry, physics, those are the sciences that are necessary for any Hunter to learn. You must never depend on your weapon, or dust, or Oum-forbid, your Aura to come through for you in every imaginable situation. Using your surroundings, and utilizing intangible resources and weapons is necessary for survival."

There is a distinct satisfaction when I hurl bombs made out of manure, sugar, and cement at my targets.

I leaned down at her level and empathically pointed at the papers that I am using to teach her.

"You want to survive being a Huntress?" She answered me with a determined nod. "Cover all basis. Don't leave any tangibles that your enemy can exploit. To cover those weaknesses, you will need knowledge. There is a limit of what your weapon can do for you. There is a limit on how your body will function. There is a limit on how far Dust can carry you. There is also a limit on your Aura's ability to push you forward. When every tangible tools in you is exhausted, then you must move to using your intangible tools."

Raising my hand, I tapped Ruby's head harshly. "Stuff your head with as many ideas and knowledge that you can. Even the most trivial thoughts can mean the difference between walking out with your head on your shoulders or being a fertilizer buried deep underground."

I motion to Ruby to continue her studies, and like a good girl, she continued without any complains.

Good.

Good.

 _ **(Empress) (Rayeth POV)**_

Everything in the world is a machine.

The human body is the most fascinating machine in the world.

After all, the purest Aura can only manifest in a human body.

Unlike Animals, the Aura reserves of a Human can increase depending on training. Animals have a certain amount of Aura is their bodies; it won't increase regardless of conditioning, unlike that of a human being.

I would not say that I am a nutritionist. I am as far from a doctor as one could possibly imagine.

I don't save people, I kill them.

But I know the human body.

I have fought enough and kill enough to understand the workings of the Human body.

I have to, needed to, considering that sometimes, some kills requires finesse.

Looking at the body of Ruby at age six and three-fourths, I can already tell the natural build of her body.

Small and slender, yet athletic and nimble.

Ruby will never have the best physical durability.

For that to happen, she needs to put on weight but that would merely cripple and hinder her in the long run.

Anything that can be consider as compromising will not be entertained, will not be accepted.

Ruby being durable is out of the question.

So, I will focus on building her stamina.

"Give me five more laps." I told Ruby as I run backwards, eyes fixed on my clearly exhausted apprentice. "Maintain your speed, don't slack." I added quickly.

Ruby was sweating like a dog as she jogged to the pace that I have set for her.

I could clearly see that she is exhausted and at the verge of fainting.

I don't care.

Grimms won't care about her state of being during hunts.

Her opponents will not care how tired and injured she is during battle.

If they won't, I would not as well.

My job is not to be her friend or her uncle.

My job, as I promise her and as she committed to me, is to build her to be the best Huntress that she can be.

I intent to fulfill that.

"Okay, accelerate." I increase my pace running backwards and subsequently, Ruby increase her paced accordingly.

Ten minutes later.

"Slow," I decreased my pace, and Ruby did the same.

Good.

I gave this routine her.

Her stamina would build faster if the pace changes in intervals.

After her five laps, I will have her do some cardio exercises.

Ruby will never be able to take much hits and blows.

Her body is not build for that.

Her body would be akin to that of a glass.

But, she will outlast her opponents.

Her body can be conditioned to outlast those who have larger build than her.

That, I can do.

I can build her body to something that is acceptable.

 _ **(Empress) (Rayeth POV)**_

Dust would never be my tool of choice.

Utilizing Dust in combat requires finesse and elegance, which I don't lack.

I can use Dust as well as any Dustmage in the field. From my mastery of Aura to my knowledge of Dust mixture, I can use Dust in an arcane manner that can make any Dustmage jealous.

I just prefer not to.

Too much effort to achieve results that I can get from simply shoving my spear through the body of my targets.

Why should I exert any effort creating a firestorm or ice spears out of nature if I can simply stab or shoot my targets with the tools that is readily available to me.

That being said, I can acknowledge the use of Dust in certain and unique situations.

That's why I have my own Dust mine near my property and a personal Dust Lab in my home.

That's also the reason why I am teaching my apprentice the finer points of Dust usage.

"Dust has four basic forms." I'm kind of glad that Ruby is staying still as I lectured her about Dust. Dust can be very volatile and the less movements from her, the less chances that she and I will blow up.

I can survive an explosion, I am not sure about her.

"Wind, Fire, Water, and Earth." I showed Ruby the corresponding crystal of those Dust types.

"Green corresponds to Wind. Red corresponds to Fire. Blue corresponds to Water. Brown corresponds to Earth." Grabbing the Wind and Water Dust, I held both crystals in the palm of my hands, right in front of Ruby. "Now, at their most basic forms, Dust can still be a volatile and flexible weapon, but the ability to combine is essential for any successful Hunter."

I thought for a moment before I decide to show her an example. "Watch." Pouring aura to the two crystals, the Dust ignited in my hand. A small tornado and a small whirlpool spiraled in my hand. Using another wave of aura, I combined the two elements together before compressing them.

The tornado and whirlpool disappear in my hands, to be replace by a singular transparent crystal. "If you combine wind and air…" I ignited the new Dust Crystal in my hand and crafted a bouquet of ice roses before my apprentices eyes.

Predictably, she looked at my creation with wonder.

I could already predict what would come out of her lips in the next three seconds, so I cut her off to set up expectations.

"You're too young and too inexperience to have this kind of control of your Aura to do something in this nature. I am not going to teach you how to do this until you're at least ten years old."

That immediately deflated her excitement, which is good.

Dust is very useful, but it is volatile.

Hunters had died due to them having errors in mixing Dust together or misusing Dust.

Many Hunters are successful in their career by merely using the most basic form of Dust in the field, a cartridge filled with Dust that can be ignited with Aura and it yields the same result as a fireball or thunderbolt created by Dust.

That is my most preferred use of Dust as well.

But I have seen enough, I have fought enough people to know that using Dust in arcane ways can often times turn the most dire situation around.

Dustcraft is an art.

It is an art that I don't particularly care for but it has its uses.

I am one to use every resources if it means victory.

I will instill that to Ruby.

I'll carve that to Ruby's psyche, whatever it takes.

Whatever it takes.

 _ **(Empress) (Rayeth POV)**_

Romeo and Juliet.

Those are the names of my two spears.

Romeo and Juliet is my two constant companion in my long career as a Huntsman.

I left my team after graduation, knowing that they don't want me, and I don't particularly want them.

My own sister left me, something that I don't want to remember at all.

Romeo and Juliet, they never left me and they never fail me.

I have never been in a situation where my weapons fail me.

Romeo and Juliet will never fail.

The weapons that you choose often times determines what kind of Hunter you would be, and that is the reason why when choosing a weapon, it is crucial to choose early on what weapon you would prefer to wield for the rest of your life.

Leading Ruby to my armory, I presented her with every weapon that I have accumulated in my life.

From bladed weapons to firearms, I have every weapon imaginable at my disposal.

I primarily wield spears, but I can wield and use other weapons of death and destruction.

I just prefer spears and shotguns.

"Every weapon imaginable is in this room." I told my apprentice. "Pick one bladed or blunt weapon and pick one firearm. Choose well and choose wisely, because whatever you choose, that will be your companion for the rest of your life."

Ruby stared at me strangely after my instructions.

"I thought you're going to teach me how to use those?" Ruby asked while pointing at Romeo and Juliet.

I did my best to resist kicking her head clean off her shoulders.

Stupid, stupid girl.

"You stupid idiot!" I scolded my apprentice. "Why should I teach you my fighting style? Do you want to commit suicide?" Ruby was taken a back by my words, and that is good.

It means my words are getting through her. "The way I used my spears, I developed that from the ground up. No one can wield a spear like I do because I am the only one who can wield a spear in such a manner because I created my fighting style from scratch. If I teach you how to wield a spear that will automatically give you a weakness because someone other than yourself knows the ins and outs of your fighting style."

"I created every single technique that I have, I created my own fighting style to avoid weakness, to avoid compromising myself because if I settled with the conventional way of wielding a spear, I would already be dead. Techniques that are publish for Hunters to learn; counters for those techniques have already been develop and is applicable in combat. All fighting arts out there in the field, counters and countermeasures have already been develop to neutralize them."

"My fighting style is exclusive to myself. No one, aside from myself, can fight the way I do, and no have seen enough of my fighting style to develop a counter."

I never let a target slip by passed me. I always kill my targets.

"If I teach you my fighting style, then you are literally living your life with a condition or in borrowed time. The reason for that is simple; I know the ins and outs of my fighting style, and you will never do. Even if I teach my fighting style to you, you will utilized my fighting style in a diluted way, in an imperfect manner, and against me, who originated the fighting style, you will not survive."

"Ruby, to set things straight between you and me and to remind you as well, you are no family of mine. You may have the same face and eyes as I, and you may even have the same blood that course through your veins as I, but you are no family. If you become one of my targets, do not fool yourself, do not delude yourself. I will gladly run you through my spear, and I will gladly have your head impale on my spear, and if you operate with the same style and weapon as I do, it will just take me three seconds to shred you to pieces."

That is a warning that I hope she will remember in her life.

"I want to avoid that, and that is why you are going to develop your own fighting style. You can wield a spear, by all means, but I am not going to teach you how to wield that spear. You will have to learn for yourself. You will have to develop your techniques to the point that only you can use that weapon in that manner."

I finished before pointing at the collection of weapons in my armory.

"Choose your weapons, Ruby. Choose well and choose wisely because whatever weapons you choose, it will define how you fight, how you kill, how you live, and how you die."

There are four important aspects for a Hunter.

Aura.

Semblance.

Dust.

And Weapons.

Among those four, the two most personal among those aspects are Semblance and Weapons.

Your Semblance will tell you what you are.

Your Weapons will tell you how you live.

The weapon or weapons that Ruby will choose will help her determine who she is or who she is going to be.

I am not expecting her to have that kind of mindset, but I expect her to at least consider my words.

And by her expression, she is.

Good.

Ruby looked at me once again and asked a question that I would consider acceptable in comparison to her first question.

"Why did you choose to wield a spear?"

The answer is quite simple.

"The day my Aura was unlock, I had a dream. I dream of a man sitting on a throne in the middle of a large garden, a rose garden filled with black roses. Black rose petals spiral around that man's throne, and surrounding the throne were numerous bodies, dead bodies, corpses impaled through spears. In that man's hand, each were holding spears." I closed my eyes briefly to recall that dream. That is a moment in my life that I would consider pleasant, and Summer was absent in that memory. "That was a life that, I thought to myself, was worth living." I told my apprenticed as I gazed in her eyes.

To my surprised, she looked as if there was a revelation unveiled to her.

Ruby dived into my armory, and it did not take her long until she was dragging a scythe to my direction.

I narrowed my eyes.

I never showed her how to hold a polearm before.

Right in front of me, she is holding the scythe as if it was the most natural thing to her.

Ruby stopped in front of me while showing the scythe to me.

"I also had a dream. Every night I have this same exact dream." Ruby started with a trance like voice. "I dream of a rose garden, with roses as red as blood. My dream was that I am looking at a woman, a beautiful woman who I haven't met before but I have this feeling like I know her for my whole life. This woman was wearing the most beautiful dress that I have ever seen in my life. In her hands was this weapon…" Ruby was pointing at the scythe with enthusiasm. "…and the blade was drench with blood, with so much blood that it made the roses even redder as the blood dripped to the ground. It was supposed to be a scary dream, but I wasn't afraid. In fact, as I stared at that woman, I could see a life worth living."

I was openly gaping at Ruby as she explained her dream to me.

She wasn't lying. She is my sister's daughter, and my sister cannot lie to save her life.

That dream was similar to mine and because of that, I know what that dream means.

Looking at Ruby right now, I could now tell what kind of Hunter she would be in the future.

Ruby already gave me an overview on what she would become.

* * *

 _ **Focus of next chapter would be Semblance…By Chapter 5, I'll be pushing out longer chapters.  
**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**Empress**_

 _ **Training Part 3  
**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY**_

 _ **I am never going to write a training chapter ever again. I am so bad at it.**_

* * *

 _ **(Ruby POV)**_

In a very weird way, I could see the resemblance between Uncle Rayeth, I hope he didn't hear me, and my mom.

Of course, it is to be expected for them to have similarities.

They are twins after all.

Twins are like the mirror image of each other.

I am not talking about physical similarities, that is a given, but personality and attitudes.

At first glance, mom and Uncle Rayeth are very different, complete opposites of each other.

After all, if there is one thing I observe from mom when she was still alive. She is always happy and always smiling. There has not been a day that I could recall when she did not have a smile etch on her beautiful face, even after an exhausting day.

Uncle Rayeth, well, I would be lucky if I don't see that infamous scowl of his Additionally, Uncle Rayeth looks miserable most of the time.

I don't know why.

Mom is very approachable and accommodating.

Uncle Rayeth is very, extremely unapproachable and uncompromising.

Mom is warm.

Uncle Rayeth is cold.

But they also have things that they have in common.

For example, they are both kind and caring.

My mom is the kindest and most caring person in this world. I could still remember how she always takes time to play with Yang and me even after returning from her exhausting missions.

Uncle Rayeth, although he doesn't play with me like mom used to do, I don't think he'll ever care for me to that degree, he still shows me kindness and care that I would not have expected from him.

Uncle Rayeth is a strict and tough teacher.

Every time we train, either my head or my body hurts, or sometimes both, depends on what lesson he is giving me. Still, regardless of how I perform or how tired I get, Uncle Rayeth always carries me back to the castle before tucking me to sleep.

He also stays in my room, accompanying me, until I fall into a deep sleep.

Of course, I am not going to tell him that I have been noticing him lingering in my room whenever he tucks me in at night.

Uncle Rayeth is a terrifying person, and that is his usual mood. I don't want to see Uncle Rayeth angry. That might be a nightmare.

Furthermore, I hope mom won't haunt me for saying this but Uncle Rayeth is a very good chef.

He is better than mom by a long shot.

He can even make those icky vegetables taste great. I never thought a squash and an eggplant can taste so yummy.

He also makes good pastries. Oh my dust, the pastries that Uncle Rayeth bakes are simply delicious and heavenly, and considering that, Uncle Rayeth has a very sweet tooth, whenever he bakes, he bakes in bulk, and he always gives me a large share.

Cakes, pies, cookies, my Uncle could bake anything under the sun, and all of them are tasty to the infinite degree.

I especially like the cookies that Uncle Rayeth bakes for me whenever I do something that impresses him. Those cookies are simply the best.

Mom and Uncle Rayeth are very different from each other but they have their similarities that make them, unquestionably, twin siblings, which makes me wonder.

Why didn't Mom tell Yang or me about his twin?

Uncle Rayeth told me before that they had a falling out some years ago, but I could not wrapped my head around mom being angry on her brother for that long.

Mom hating Uncle Rayeth, her brother, does not make sense.

Uncle Rayeth loved mom very much, he still does.

I would even say that Uncle Rayeth loves mom more than dad does.

It was obvious how much Uncle Rayeth loves mom.

There has not been a day that goes by where Uncle Rayeth does not mention my mom, her sister, in a fond and admiring way.

Uncle Rayeth coveted mom in religious and fanatical manner.

It is both sad and beautiful.

And it makes me wonder, why did they grew apart to such extent that mom would push Uncle Rayeth out of her life?

 _ **(Ruby POV)**_

Uncle Rayeth is a very strict and tough teacher, but he does give me my dues if I deserve praise.

And at the moment, I really do deserve praise!

"Nice shot." My Uncle praised me with his usually emotionless voice.

"Thank you, Rayeth." It was difficult not adding Uncle before his name, but he would be very upset if I refer to him as such.

An upset Uncle Rayeth is a very difficult Uncle Rayeth.

Currently, I am practicing my shooting skill with a firearm.

Yes, Uncle Rayeth is teaching me how to use a gun at age seven.

He is cool like that.

My firearm of choice is a sniper rifle.

Apparently, I am a natural when it comes to the sniper rifle.

It is the only gun I could use well.

I tried using a shotgun, like Uncle Rayeth, but it just doesn't feel right. Also, when I tried it, I was blown back to the floor, and Uncle Rayeth didn't caught me.

I also tried using a rife, but again, it felt awkward whenever I use it, and I dislike wasting bullets.

A sniper rifle though, it just felt right in my hands.

Accuracy, recoil, ammo consumption, it felt right.

"400 meters." Uncle Rayeth pointed at my next target.

I nodded and returned my eyes to the scope of my sniper rifle.

Taking a deep breath, I took aim and fired.

 ***BANG***

Bullseye for the best and youngest Huntress-in-training in Remnant.

Feel free to give your applauds.

"500 meters." Uncle Rayeth ordered.

I obeyed.

 ***BANG***

Another bullseye.

"600 meters."

 ***BANG***

Another great hit from yours truly.

"700 meters."

 ***BANG***

There is something therapeutic in watching a bullet fly through the air and hit that small red target.

"750 meters."

 ***BANG***

One shot, one bullet, another successful sniping by Ruby Rose.

"800 meters."

 ***BANG***

I cringe a bit. That last one was a bit off. The bullet landed a few inches from the bullseye.

"Ruby," I cringed at the way Uncle called for my attention.

I turned to look at him, expecting the worse.

I was relive to see him merely giving me a thoughtful and calculating look.

Lecture time.

"Do you know what a killing range is?"

No, and I know you are aware of this, Uncle!

Uncle Rayeth always does this. He asked things that I have no clue of, before giving a simple explanation or a comprehensive, nosebleed inducing lecture.

It really depends on his mood.

After a few seconds, Uncle Rayeth spoke once again.

"For a sniper, a killing range is the farthest range at which a hit is a certainty. It is an invincible cage in which those who are in it are destined to perish." Uncle Rayeth explained and I breathed a sigh of relief that he did not give me a headache-inducing lecture about this Killing Range topic.

"A sniper's worth is measured on how far he/she can hit his/her target. A Hunter-Sniper's worth is measured on how large the range of their Killing Range is." Passive-aggressively, Uncle is now going to give me a goal that I need to reach as a sniper. "For a Hunter-Sniper, the average Killing Range is 2km. An elite has a Killing Range of 6km."

That is far!

But I can certainly do it.

Uncle Rayeth then gave me this weird look that I rarely see from him.

"Summer was also a sniper." My eyes widen at that revelation. I did not know that. I know mom was a Huntress but I have never seen her weapon in person. "Her killing range is 10km. In our generation, for every Hunter that is a sniper, that distance is the greatest distance for a Hunter-Sniper. She actually broke the old record of 8km." I was taken aback by that information.

I did not know that.

"Get close to that number." Uncle Rayeth challenged me while motioning to the targeting range.

I nodded with a determined look.

10km.

I'll surpassed that number.

Mom would have like me to surpass that number.

I am her daughter after all.

 _ **(Ruby POV)**_

Uncle Rayeth is extreme at times.

I mean, just last week, Uncle Rayeth threw me off the highest tower in the castle, telling me that it was about time I learn how to fall from great heights without my neck breaking, or my spine fracturing, or both.

According to him, I must devised and practiced a foolproof landing strategy because I will gravely need it for my career as a Huntress.

Apparently, Hunters are constantly thrown from high places.

Thank Oum for Aura Shielding, Aura Fortification, Aura Reinforcement, and Aura Healing.

Yeah, Uncle Rayeth is an extreme, hands-on, experience heavy teacher.

Which explains my current situation.

"Are we really going to do this?" I inquired quietly as I tried my best not to vomit.

"This is necessary." Uncle Rayeth stated calmly.

I pinched my nose, as I tried not to inhale that repulsive smell.

Uncle Rayeth and I are in his very expensive kitchen, and on the kitchen stool, lies two animal corpses.

Two corpses of a deer lie before Uncle Rayeth and me.

They were hunted and killed by Killer, one of Uncle Rayeth's pet wolves.

Strange fact, Uncle Rayeth has eighteen pet wolves; all of them train to be Accompanist.

Accompanists are animals breed, raised, conditioned, and train to accompany hunters in their missions.

Killer, one of Uncle's favorite, brought those carcasses for the purpose of my next lesson.

I am so going to give Killer the least amount of food later.

Because, apparently, Uncle Rayeth is going to teach me how to dissect wildlife.

I am already tearing up inside.

"Ruby, out in the field, we are at the mercy of our environment. Often times, Hunters are required to stay out in wilderness for weeks or even months at a time. When you are out in the wilderness, provisions often times run dry, even if you ration them. When out in the wilderness, you feed of the land." Uncle Rayeth washed his hands before taking a knife and casually sharpening it.

That knife is glinting menacingly.

"When you are older, I will take you out in the wilderness. I will teach you how to discern which plants can be eaten safely and which plants will likely kill you. I will teach you how to filter water until it is safe for consumption. I will also teach you how to build shelter. But that is a year from now." Camping scheduled for next year, AWESOME. "Right now, I'll teach you how to properly dissect wild game. I will teach you how to properly separate the meat from the bones, the fur from the flesh, and the fat from the meat."

Oh yeah, Uncle is going to teach me how to tear apart animals.

Boo…

"Regardless of what animals you are dissecting, you first need to open the stomach."

I watched uncle slashed open the stomach, revealing all the mushy and gutsy stuff.

I did my best not to throw up.

Uncle is so going to make this uncomfortable for me.

But, I know Uncle Rayeth. I've been living with him for the last year and a half.

Our relationship is okay.

Student-teacher relationship is okay considering who Uncle Rayeth is.

Uncle Rayeth is not as caring as Dad.

He is also not as 'cool' as Uncle Qrow.

He is not as loving as mom.

But Uncle Rayeth is more responsible and honest than both Dad and Uncle Qrow combine.

Uncle Rayeth is a harsh person, I would even say that he can be very cruel at times, but he is extremely honest with me.

Uncle Rayeth constantly hammers into me what to expect when I become a hunter.

All the horrors that I will face, all the hardship that I will experience, all the battles that I can expect, Uncle Rayeth describes them to me with such morbid accuracy that often times, I think he is discouraging mefrom this path, the path that my mom took that led her to her death.

But mom's death is the very reason why Uncle Rayeth continuously drills into me the horrors that I would face as a Huntress and why he takes such extremes to prepare me to overcome those horrors.

Uncle Rayeth loves mom.

That is unquestionable and as clear as crystal.

And because Uncle Rayeth loves mom, he is doing his best to prepare me to face everything the world will throw at me as a huntress.

He doesn't want me to fall like mom.

He doesn't want me to die the way that mom did.

After all, in his eyes, I am my mom's legacy.

And I appreciate that.

I have already committed myself to the teachings and trainings of Uncle Rayeth.

Regardless of how hard or how harsh, or even how disgusting the training is, I will endure.

Uncle Rayeth is a Professional Hunter.

From the training that I am getting, I would even say that he is better than Mom, Dad, and Uncle Qrow combine.

That is scary.

But it is also very fortunate for me.

I am getting a firsthand training with a professional hunter, and if I have to dissect dead animals for Uncle to continue teaching me, I would do so.

I will throw up later though.

 _ **(Ruby POV)**_

Uncle Rayeth has many bizarre quirks.

He acknowledges it of course. Every trait that Uncle Rayeth has, whether good or bad, he acknowledges it with a shrug.

He admitted before, right to my face, that he can be homicidal and suicidal in battle, and that he is a sociopath, a highly functioning sociopath, but a sociopath nonetheless.

He also did inform me that he could be sadistic and evil at times.

That I can believe. After all, he pushed me off a flight of stairs once to see the improvements of my active aura shielding skill.

That hurt, a lot.

Also, I could still recall the week when Uncle Rayeth forced me to train and walk around the castle with a blindfold on for seven straight days. The bruises that I accumulated that week and the amount of stuff I broke around the castle was a lot.

Also, that kicks and punches that Uncle Rayeth often times threw at my direction to test my reflexes, physical and aura wise, hurt very, very much.

Uncle Rayeth is somewhat of a sadist but the results speaks for themselves.

And the cake, pie, cookies, and those sweets that Uncle Rayeth would reward me for a job well done is worth any punishment.

Among the many quirks that Uncle Rayeth has, his weirdest in my eyes is his fascination for classical music.

There are many things to do in Uncle Rayeth's castle. There are many entertainment options in Uncle Rayeth's castle.

His game room is filled to the brim with all kinds of games, all kinds of video game consoles, and several thousand video games, form current to retro. I must admit, I spend most of my time outside of training in that awesome game room.

His entertainment room is also very awesome. Widescreen plasma TV the size of an elephant, with five thousand channels throughout the four kingdoms. Not to mention, Uncle Rayeth has a massive movie and TV shows collection at his disposal.

There are many, many things to do in Uncle Rayeth's castle.

Uncle Rayeth barely visits his entertainment room or his game room.

Outside of my training, whenever Uncle Rayeth has free time, he normally spends it training himself.

I've seen Hunters train before I started living with Uncle Rayeth.

I've seen my Dad train.

I've seen Uncle Qrow train.

I've seen my mom train.

Those three are the very picture of fitness and strength.

After seeing Uncle Rayeth's training, he makes my mom, dad, and Uncle Qrow look like wimps in comparison.

I could not begin to describe how Uncle Rayeth trains himself, but he blows away my mom, dad, and Uncle Rayeth out of the water on how intensely he keeps himself in shape.

I mean, Uncle Rayeth bench-presses 1000 pounds as if it was nothing and he runs like a thousand laps with weights all over his body at speeds that was jaw dropping.

Not to mention, Uncle Rayeth does squats, he does squats while underwater while constantly being electrocuted.

I could go on and on about the extreme and bizarre exercises that Uncle Rayeth performs to remain fit and in shape, but some of those exercises are just not normal or human, even for Hunters.

It is both cool and scary at the same time.

After training, Uncle Rayeth showers, prepares dinner, before locking himself into his study to listen to classical

This is what baffles me.

The music part, not the cooking part.

Mom enjoys listening to love songs and pop music.

Dad enjoys his country music.

Uncle Qrow enjoys listening to his punk band music and his rock music.

It is an acquired taste, I get that, but Only Uncle Rayeth listens to his classical music in an almost religious fervor.

When it comes to Mom, Dad, and Uncle Qrow, they can go days without listening to their preferred music.

Uncle Rayeth, on the other hand, apparently cannot go a single hour without a classical music roaring in the background.

There has not been a day that goes by without me hearing Moonlight Sonata, Uncle Rayeth's favorite.

In fact, every day classical music is always blaring throughout the castle, with the only exception being whenever Uncle Rayeth is out for a mission.

I am not going to say it gets old fast, considering Uncle would probably, he just might, skewer me with either Romeo or Juliet for the slander of his favorite music, but it really gets frustrating in occasions.

It is difficult to remove the tune of the Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi out of my head.

It is bizarre for me to see how religious it is for my Uncle to listen to his music.

My Uncle had already voice out his utter and complete disdain for anything remotely relating to religion but when it comes to his music, he listens to it religiously.

Which is baffling.

And I've ask him that.

Honesty is the foundation of our relationship.

I can ask any question that I like and Uncle Rayeth would answer them honestly. Because of that, I would never lie to him.

Never.

"You are asking me why I am listening to classical music in a daily basis, is that correct?" I am currently in Uncle Rayeth's study, standing right in front of him.

Uncle Rayeth's study is massive. It is the same size as my former house in Patch. There were several bookshelves filled with books in the study as well as several weapons and firearms neatly organize on all four corners of the room. There was also an exquisite looking fireplace in the study.

And on top of that fireplace was a portrait of my mom.

Mom looked young in that portrait; she is probably in her teens when that portrait was made.

Also, the portrait was very well made. It was very life-like, as if my mom is alive in that portrait.

I did my best not to look at it.

I might start crying.

"Well not in a daily basis. More like an hourly basis." I corrected my uncle softly.

Uncle Rayeth stared at me hard before sighing as he reclined on his chair. "I am listening to these kinds of music because I am a fan of classical music and I find them very pleasing to listen to. This type of music is art after all." That is obvious but I know it is not that simple.

Nothing that concerns Uncle Rayeth is ever simple.

"Also, Ruby, these kinds of music calms me down." Uncle Rayeth looked at me with eyes a kin to that of bloodthirsty animal.

I could still remember when I flinch at the sight of those eyes. It was a year ago when I was still getting used to living with Uncle Rayeth.

Now though, Uncle Rayeth's eyes no longer unnerved me. Yes, Uncle Rayeth is dangerous, but he is not a danger to me, which is something to be thankful for.

"I am a Blacklist Hunter, Ruby. I have seen things that no Hunter should ever see and I have fought beings that are beyond this world, beings that surpasses Grimm in viciousness and maliciousness." Uncle Rayeth told me with a dazed look in his eyes. "As a Blacklist Hunter, I have also done things that no sane individual would ever do. I have committed atrocities that are against common decency and humanity. In fact, I would even go so far and say that I have abandoned my humanity and sanity a long time ago."

For the first time, I heard and witnessed Uncle Rayeth chuckling.

It was rather a disturbing sight.

Uncle Rayeth chuckling seems to be a scene straight out of a horror movie.

"Ruby, there are many categories of Hunters that you can choose from when you become a Huntress. You can be just like Summer and become a Harvest Hunter. You can even be an Exploration Hunter, although you need to take some added History and Artifying classes for you to get a license for that kind of career. You can even be a Reclamation Hunter, which is the most profitable and rewarding career that any Hunter can pursue. You can even follow my footsteps and become a Blacklist Hunter, although I don't recommend it." Uncle Rayeth stared right through my eyes. "But be warned Ruby, regardless of what specific Hunter you choose to be, you will need to sacrificed a part of yourself in order to be successful and to survive."

Uncle Rayeth then turned his attention to the portrait of mom above the fireplace, which allowed me to release a breath that I don't know I was holding.

"The most powerful Hunters that you would meet in the future will all have bizarre quirks or characteristics, and that is by design. The path that I walk, the path that you choose to walk, sanity is an aspect that is quickly lost or abandon. Personally, I don't mind. Saneness is overrated anyway, but some still clings to their sanity in any way they can, and by clinging to their sanity, they develop unusual hobbies, personalities, and quirks, and even I am not immune to that."

Uncle Rayeth raised one of his arm and started moving it by the tune of the music, as if he was conducting.

"Ruby, I am going to tell you right now, if it is not obvious enough for you, I am not sane. In fact, I would tell you right now, I am insane. It is difficult to keep my sanity, considering my body count." Uncle Rayeth confessed to me with a drawled tone. "I listen to an excessive amount of Classical music because it has a therapeutic and calming effect on me, which I consider a blessing considering you are living with me. In the field, you have no idea how bloodthirsty and vicious I could be, and because I know my nature, I do not trust my ability to not rip you to shreds with my bare hands in a stressful or frustrating day."

I took a step back after that admission, but it is more for comical reason than anything else.

I trust Uncle Rayeth not to kill me.

"I have killed people for very minor and petty things before, none of them are accidents. Listening to these kinds of music calms me down to the point that my temptation to kill people at random is reduce by a lot." Uncle Rayeth then turned his eyes back at me. "A word of advised Ruby, before you become a Huntress, find a hobby, find something you enjoy doing, and immersed yourself in it. Sanity is useless to me, humanity as well, but you are not me. You are Summer's daughter in every way, shape, and form. Do your best not to lose your humanity and your sanity, for your sake as well as for everyone."

Uncle Rayeth really has this ability to lecture me in every turn.

I appreciate it.

He is a Hunter, a very good one at that, and I will heed every advised that he would give me.

I won't start to religiously listen to classical music though.

I might fall asleep.

 _ **(Ruby POV)**_

Uncle Rayeth is very straightforward with me.

In the onset of my apprenticeship with him, he had told me all the cool and awesome things that he would teach me.

In the very beginning, he informed me that he will teach me how to use my Aura, and my training in Aura is progressing very well. I could literally create that beam-strike thingy that Uncle Rayeth used on that Goliath, although I would be exhausted after four of those, but I'll improved in time. I think my capacity is increasing by the day.

He also told me that he will teach me how to use firearms. I am great with a sniper and Uncle Rayeth seems to be interested in showing me how to use other firearms next.

Uncle Rayeth also informed me that once I get older, he will be teaching me how to fight with my hands and feet. Apparently, according to him, considering my built and body, as well as my mom's complete lack of hand-to hand skills, and with the assumption that I will be horrendous in using my fist in a fight, he will personally teach me how to fight unarmed when I am older. I am both terrified and looking forward to those lessons.

Uncle Rayeth hits very hard.

Uncle Rayeth is not one to hold his punches. I should know. He kicks me at random to check if my passive Aura Shielding is acceptable, and his kicks hurt, a lot. His random kicks on my body also allow me to develop my Aura Healing, so that is a plus.

Uncle Rayeth is also very determine to shove as much academic and cultural knowledge down my throat. I would admit that I enjoy my history lessons with Uncle Rayeth, he is a very good story teller, and I do enjoy my Physics lessons as well, but the rest of the topics that Uncle Rayeth forces me to study is headache inducing.

Uncle Rayeth had promised to teach me a slew of things, and he is delivering in his promised.

The one thing that he did not promised to teach me though is how to fight with my weapon of choice.

My weapon of choice, the weapon that my heart pointed me to is a scythe.

Just like Uncle Qrow.

Uncle Rayeth told me point me directly that he won't teach me how to even hold a scythe, and that is not because he doesn't know how to. According to him, he had fought and beaten Uncle Qrow so many times in their days in Beacon that he had picked up a few tricks on how to wield a scythe.

He won't teach me any of those tricks though.

As Uncle Rayeth had told me that he is preparing me to survive against the worst possible opponent in the field for Hunters.

He is essentially preparing me to be at his level or to be in a level that can survive a confrontation against him.

He is Rayeth Rose, the Strongest Blacklist Hunter in Remnant, the Human Grimm, the Walking Calamity, the Perfectionist, the Undertaker, Uncle Rayeth has many monikers, but there is one common denominator in his reputation.

Uncle Rayeth is the worst nightmare of every Hunter currently in the field.

Uncle Rayeth is a Blacklist Hunter, Hunters who hunt other Hunters who had become a threat to society, and Uncle Rayeth is the best active Blacklist Hunter in Remnant.

He has not miss a target ever since he became a Blacklist Hunter.

I know of Uncle Rayeth's reputation due to him teaching me how to navigate and utilized the Huntersprudence (Jurisprudence for Hunters).

Apparently, Uncle Rayeth is training me with the expectation that I would do something stupid in the future, that would result in him going after me, and he is preparing me to survive that fight.

Not going to happen.

I am not going to do anything that would have the person that is equivalent to the Boogeyman, for Hunters, chasing me.

I am not that excited to have Romeo or Juliet going through my body.

That said, Uncle Rayeth told me to teach myself how to use a scythe, and Uncle Rayeth is not without mercy.

Uncle Rayeth will not teach me how to fight with my scythe, but he did tell me how he learned to fight with his spears.

He will also spar with me once I create my Scythe-style, to straighten up all the loose ends.

Like what I am setting out to do, Uncle Rayeth created his own way to wield his weapon. In the Art of the Spear, Uncle Rayeth did not have a master. From the ground up, Uncle Rayeth develop his spear-style all on his own, without any assistance, and it was a major success.

Many had fallen to the edge of his spears.

Uncle Rayeth told me that he develop the foundation of his spear-style by watching the flow of the river, the roar of the waterfall, and the waves of the ocean. Uncle Rayeth has always been fascinated with bodies of water. He even took me sailing in the river a few times, and I enjoy those times that he took me. Uncle Rayeth told me that nature guided him in the development of his spear-style, and he advised me to do the same.

That is an advised that I would heed.

Although I won't be doing it by watching rivers and oceans.

I tried that. It didn't do anything for me.

In fact, I fell asleep watching the flow of the rivew.

And yes, there is a river near Uncle Rayeth's castle and it is within his territory. Uncle Rayeth owns a lot in his patch of land.

I've watched Uncle Rayeth stare at the river for hours at a time, and I cannot do that.

My style with the scythe will not begin with the river.

It will begin with the wind.

I will never be like Uncle Rayeth. I can't stare at the river and translate its flows to spear thrusts and slashes.

I will never be fascinated with the sea, but I am fascinated with the sky.

Similarly to Uncle Rayeth, I can watched the wind carry the leaves of a tree or the dust of the earth towards places unknown.

The sight of freedom that the wind grants everything it touches is beautiful beyond words.

Uncle Rayeth said that I should allow nature to guide me to use the scythe.

Okay.

I stood in a clearing surrounded by trees; countless leaves flying and waltzing around me as the wind sing its melody.

Raising my practiced scythe, I took a deep breath, and allowed the wind to guide my dance.

Yes, this will serve me well.

The breeze of the wind, I can understand.

 _ **(Ruby POV)**_

"Have you discovered your Semblance yet, Ruby?" Uncle Rayeth inquired to me as I walked with him in one of the long corridors of Rose Castle.

Uncle Rayeth would be absent for a couple of days. Apparently, his new set of targets has been decided and Uncle Rayeth is determined to finish his quota early.

That means that there would be many Hunters that are going to be buried in the next seven days

I am currently seeing my Uncle to the door when he asked that curious question.

Semblance is a topic that Uncle Rayeth has yet to discuss with me, even if it was intimately connected to Aura.

Uncle is an Aura Master.

Scratch that.

He is not just an Aura Master. He is **the** Aura Master.

The fact that he has yet to discuss Semblance with me yet has thoroughly taught me the inner-mechanics and sophistication of Aura is strange.

But this is Uncle Rayeth. He knows what is best for me.

"I haven't discovered it yet." I answered honestly.

A grunting sound came from Uncle Rayeth as he gazed at me at the corner of his eye. "Your Aura was unlock at age six. Normally, those with Hunter Level Aura discover their Semblance six months to a year after unlocking their Aura. It is almost two years since I took you under my wing. The fact that your Semblance has yet to be unlock is rather concerning."

Has it really been two years since I became Uncle Rayeth's apprentice?

I haven't notice.

Time sure flies if you are being conditioned to be a Huntress by one of the best Hunter in existence.

"Maybe it's because of my age. Like you said before, six year old girls do not gain access to their Aura." I theorized while quoting Uncle Rayeth.

"Your Aura Quality is Category 10. You have the highest quality of Aura possible. Regardless of the circumstances, you should already have access to your Semblance." Uncle Rayeth refuted my theory as he adopted a thoughtful look. "I haven't discuss Semblance with you, is that correct?"

"You haven't." I smiled in excitement. I always enjoyed hearing Uncle Rayeth discuss anything Aura related. He is always passionate when it comes to Aura.

"Semblance is the manifestation of one's innate and personal power as an ability unique to each individual, with the effects varying greatly from user to user. The nature of one's Semblance represents the core aspect of their character. However, a person's Semblance can resemble the Semblances of their parents or other family members, but it will not be completely similar, although there are some exceptions. Those assholes, the Schnees, in Atlas are one of those exceptions, but they are Sacrificial."

Sacrificial?

"Semblance is a more tangible projection of one's Aura. As Hunters are slaves to their natural body, we are also slaves to our Semblance. We are limited to what our Semblance is. I have several techniques using Aura that I cannot teach you, not because I won't, but because you're Semblance might be incapable of supporting it, and in the future, depending on your Semblance, you may be able to create techniques that I may not be able replicate if your Semblance doesn't resemble mine. Oum forbid, I do hope your Semblance isn't like Summer's." A groan escape Uncle Rayeth's lips, a first negative reaction from him about my mom. "Summer's Semblance is powerful and useful, but it is so straightforward that it leaves no room for flexibility. Considering her Semblance is Conditional, I guess I can't complain that much."

Conditional?

"Now, regarding Semblance, it can be divided into three categories, each having an upside and downside. The three categories of Semblance are Concept, Conditional, and Sacrificial."

"Let us start with Concept. Concept-type Semblance is the most flexible Semblance type. Those types of Semblance have an initial form, but depending on the imagination and creativity of the user, that Semblance can take on many other forms, although those forms will still be rooted on its default form."

There was a moment of silence as Uncle Rayeth looked thought for a second.

"My Semblance in a Concept-type…" I was taken aback at that sudden admission. Uncle Rayeth doesn't actually tell me much about himself, aside from him being a murderer of Hunters and how much pain he could dish out in a matter of seconds. "…and because of that, I could use my Semblance in several hundred ways. Among the thousands of thousands of opponents that I have taken down, none of them was able to successful guessed what my Semblance is. Not even my Teammates know what my Semblance is, and they were with me in my four years in Beacon, and another two when we were all rookies. The only one who knows my Semblance is Summer, and even during our falling out, considering she did not even mention me to you, I am guessing she hasn't told her dumbass partner and her idiot husband what my Semblance."

"Like they would be able to beat me even if they know. I've owned every fucker in that school for four years, and I have been owning every other mother fucker in Remnant for the last two or so decades."

There was a disgruntled yet prideful whispered that emanated from Uncle Rayeth.

For someone who is very vocal about his displeasure in attending Beacon Academy, Uncle Rayeth seems to have many fond memories in that school.

"After Concept-type Semblance, we have Conditional-type Semblance…" Back to the lecture. "Conditional-type Semblance is the opposite of Concept-type Semblance. They have one initial form, and that is it. No branching out from that initial form and it cannot be use in anything else aside from that initial form. Furthermore, in order for Conditional-type Semblance to be use, there are requisites that must be met. That being said, Conditional-Type Semblance is the best type of Semblance if it is based upon coverage, fire power, destructive power, area of affect, and range of attack."

"That is what made Summer quite a force when she was alive. Her Semblance does not have that much flexibility and that was a detriment for a Dust Sorceress like her, reason why Goodwitch edge her out in versatility, but it made her very dangerous as a sniper."

Uncle Rayeth stopped at that note. From my readings, I am guessing that he doesn't want to tell me about Mom's Semblance, something that I can understand. Semblance is an intimate part of a Hunter after all.

"Finally, Sacrificial-type Semblance, the rarest Semblance of them all. Sacrificial-type Semblance is a hybrid of Concept and Conditional-type Semblances. Sacrificial-Type Semblance can offer flexibility that is only available for Concept-type and it also offers destructive power that is only achieve from a Conditional-type Semblance. Sacrificial-type Semblance has one single form, it cannot deviate from that form like a Conditional-type Semblance, but the form that it takes is complex enough that it can be utilizes in various ways, like a Concept-type Semblance. Also, the user can control the degree in which the Semblance can be used, which is unlike Conditional. For Conditional-type Semblance, the users can only use their Semblance at its strongest peak and no less than that, though it can be use sparingly for multiple and weaker usage, while Sacrificial-type Semblance can be use in weaker burst at a time. Like a Conditional-type Semblance , there is a requisites that must be met for Sacrificial-type Semblance to be used. Unlike Conditional-type, where the requisites can be achieved by external means, the requisites for Sacrificial-type Semblance is achieve internally and it must always be from the user."

"That means, for Sacrificial-type Semblance to be used, the user must personally sacrificed something for that ability to be projected outwards. The Sacrificed can be permanent or temporary, although permanent sacrifice tends to generate stronger and better Semblances than temporary sacrifice, although the former tends to have shorter lifespans, although, to be fair, those with Sacrificial-type Semblances tends to die young in general."

The lecture, once again, took a grim turn.

"For each Semblance, they have advantages and disadvantages, but it does not change the fact that there is a generic method in the utilization of each of those three Semblances. For Concept-type, imagination and creativity is a must for it to be use it its fullest potential, but overdependence on the Semblance would be catastrophic for the user. For Conditional-type, timing and the ability to manipulate the opposition to assist the user to fulfill the requisites is a crucial ability to have, as well as endurance and durability. For Sacrificial-type, regardless of my dislike for those kinds Semblances, the accuracy, management, and resourcefulness is the most crucial skill that a user must have for him to use that suicidal Semblance properly."

"If you want a more laments terms in explanation regarding Semblances, you can also put it like this. Concept is how you used it but not depend on it. Conditional is how you built and how you deliver. Sacrificed is how you master but not use."

Uncle Rayeth and I finally reached the door of the castle and before exiting, Uncle Rayeth looked at me fully. "Personally, I would like you to have a Concept-type Semblance. I can assist you in building several, even hundreds of techniques if you have a Concept-type Semblance. That said, the type of Semblance that you have depends on the type of person that you are. If you have a Conditional, we will work on your timing and your endurance. If you have a Sacrificial, Oum forbids, I will personally invest on every aspect of your fighting abilities, and believe me, Ruby, once I personally invest on your fighting abilities, you will consider committing suicide due to how hard I will run you to the ground."

On that note, Uncle Rayeth left, leaving me with a lot to think about.

* * *

 _ **Chapter 5 of Empress. I can now start with the plot proper.**_

 _ **Never going to write a training chapter ever again. Suck at it.**_

 _ **For my American readers. Seems no dodging it any longer. Your next President is Donald Trump.**_

 _ **My God, what a mess.**_

 _ **I am from the Philippines. Unlike my brethrens, I do not have the urge to leave my country. My thought process has always been that I can make a life for myself in my country. So far, I have a good life.**_

 _ **I do not know the political atmosphere in America or the political system, all I know is that the American People elected a very dangerous and unpredictable person to be their president.**_

 _ **For those who had elected him, congratulation, you have won. Hopefully, you guys won't regret this decision. Personally, I will not have voted for Hillary Clinton either. I actually do prefer Trump than Clinton. She's a corrupt witch, and I would also roll a dice with a monster than someone that has a track record of corruption.**_

 _ **For those who are scare of a Trump regime, who are very uncertain with life right now, a word of advised, America is still a Democracy. The will and welfare of the people is the soul of a Democracy. If your rights are being trample upon, if the government is screwing you over in favor of corporations and elites, just be advised, republicans and/or democrats, that all of you are the lifeblood of the United States of America. You, the people of the USA, are what make the United States of America the greatest country on earth. Show to your elected leaders that you want to progress to the future, that you want to improve your life for your families and for your fellow Americans. Fight if and when necessary. Do not let you voice be unheard by your elected leaders.**_

 _ **Remember, my American friends, the people is the soul of a Democracy. It is time for your politicians and leaders to know and realize this.**_


End file.
